Grand’Or Apartment Building, Nagydiófa Street, Budapest

Architects: LAB5 architects
Text: Péter Debreczeni
Photos: Zsolt Batár, Attila Gulyás

The downtown area of Pest, and the seventh district where the building in question stands, is one of the most complex parts of the city, both in terms of history and urban planning. Every plot of land has a past of its own, the buildings and the streetscape go back centuries. The neighbourhood has a sombre, traditional yet bohemian urban atmosphere, creating a unique world of the Jewish Quarter within the city centre. The district is Hungary’s most densely populated and developed area, so there is little land available for planning – and unfortunately scarce modern, well-maintained housing. However, both tourists and foreigners staying in Hungary for longer or shorter periods of time seek these properties.
The investor has started the development with the recognition of this need in mind. The building on Nagydiófa Street consists mainly of smaller apartments for rent, with office rooms and a community space for rent. A further important consideration for the investor was to achieve a building of high-standard aesthetic qualities, which would withstand the test of time and be in keeping with its environment, whilst preventing further declassification. Built on one of the last vacant plots in the Jewish quarter, this condominium, had to meet all these requirements, whilst being a modern, economically and technically sustainable building. The designers sought to find the right responses to all these challenges, while maintaining a rigorous investment programme.

Leading architects: Linda Erdélyi, András Dobos, Balázs Korényi, Virág Anna Gáspár – LAB5 architects
Project architect: Diána Németh
Architects: János Egyed, Bogáta Kendi, Dávid Páncsics, Bálint Szelezsán
Structure: Balázs Puskás
HVAC: László Temesvári
Details: Dudinszky Tervezőiroda
Electrical engineering: Ferenc Kelemen
Fire protection: György Decsi
Landscape: Gábor Karádi
Elevators: Ferenc Gróf
Roads, traffic: Ádám Rhorer