The Gym Hall of St Margaret Secondary Grammar School

Architects: Zsolt Félix, Tamás Fialovszky, Bálint Gulyás, Gergely Kenéz
Text: Tamás Kiss
Photos: Gergely Kenéz

Students of the Buda-based St Margaret Secondary Grammar School have recently taken over their new gym hall along Villányi Road. The new building is almost invisible for passers-by in the street, as it nestles into the gentle terrain of Gellért Hill north of the school building. The terrain of the site were key factors defining the orientation of the sports function and responded issues of adjustment to the environment: designers decided to partly sink it into the hillside, and with this modest attitude they managed to smartly preserve the dominance of the school building constructed in 1931-32 in a revived Baroque style. -The interaction of the two structures is unavoidable: the new gym hall uses different means to represent the old public building. The intention of the gestures remains the same, but the pompousness of revived Baroque is counterbalanced by rational elegance. The sports functions of the new building are accessible via a cave-like entrance The elegance of the architecture is manifested in the rational overall design, and the matching delicacy and sophistication of simple details. The character of the house is defined by the densely placed vertical steel poles that envelop the walls. They also appear as rails on the level of the sports field on the roof. Characteristic structures are the raw concrete beams placed across the ceiling that also support the space above the sports field and the grand stand.

Client: Isteni Megváltóról Nevezett Nővérek Kongregációja, Magyar Tartomány
Architects: Zsolt Félix DLA, Tamás Fialovszky, Bálint Gulyás, Gergely Kenéz – Építész Stúdió
Landscape: Dániel Takács PhD, Dorottya Varró
Framework: Géza Kapovics, Dániel Heincz
Structure: Dezső Hensler, Dénes Kerényi
HVAC: Zoárd Mangel Gy.
Civil engineering: László Radványi
Electrical engineering: Árpád Szabó
Weak current: Péter Patányi, Árpád Szabó
Automatics: Károly Bakk
Fire protection: György Decsi
Akcoustics: Gusztáv Józsa
Sports technology: Zita Tappler