Normafa Park Visitor Centre, Budapest

Architects: László Benczúr Jr, Miklós Weichinger
Text: Mária Tatai
Photos: Tamás Bujnovszky

The area around Normafa had been already a popular place for excursions with citydwellers of the capital back in the 19th century. The elongated structure of the new visitors’ centre and ski training school with its practice course connects the two stems of the bifurcated Eötvös Street. At the upper end, now known as the Promenade, it comes to form the gateway to Normafa, together with a renovated mansion. The unusual forms of the new facility is masterfully blended into the landscape. Arriving here from above, it appears as a metal-roofed, tent-like tourist shelter, while approaching it from below, a solid fence of wooden slats rises from the parapet height up to the roof. From above the lower part we can enjoy a nice view of the training course. In the vocabulary of contemporary architectural trends, the adjective ‘tectonic’ is the most fitting to describe this work of architecture, which adapts sensitively to the topography of the terrain without pretentious bravados.
In this multifunctional building, the various public spaces, each with a different function, interlock in an organic way, their transition being almost continuous. At the top, a terraced catering unit welcomes visitors, while next to it a staircase leads from the foyer to the storey containing the changing rooms and toilets, with free access during the day. Further down, the ski school’s accentuated main gate is located, with a semi-covered staircase leading up to the upper rooms where light filters through the slats along the sides. The terraces and enclosed rooms of the restaurant, which also open to the street, form a complex system of spaces.

Architecture: Benczúr-Weichinger Studio Ltd.
Leading architect: László Benczúr Jr
Architect: Miklós Weichinger
Fellow architects: Tibor Budai, Zsófia Tóth, Dorina Oszetzky
Interiors: László Benczúr Jr, Miklós Weichinger
Fellow interior designer: Edit Tóthmátyás
Landscape, garden: Zoltán Nemes– Vár-Kert Ltd.
Structure: András Nagy – Bend-Stat Ltd.
HVAC: Zoltán Pintér
Electrical engineering: István Karácsony
Main contractor: Archibona Ltd.