Kiskastély (Minor Mansion) Nursery School, Keszthely

Architect: György Kisberzsenyi-Nagy
Text: Kristóf Mánya
Photos: Tamás Vörös

The team of architects coordinated by György Kisberzsenyi-Nagy converted a manor house illegally occupied by homeless people into a Roman Catholic nursery school by
developing a solution based on a somewhat inverted logic in order to maximize the space available for the intended functions. They did not narrow down the possibilities based on external conditions and closed contexts, but developed the final form of the building based on internal insights and the rules defined by them. The spatial configuration of the kindergarten building was thus based on the characteristics of Kiskastély, the manor house. In the old castle building, behind the portico of the main façade, we enter a clean, puritanical space. On the ground floor of this wing, there are only two rooms designed for children’s activities, while the rest serves a supporting function for the institution’s staff. The rooms on the upper floor are used in a similar proportion: mainly offices can be found here. The spatial relationships are as austere as the layout itself, but the design of the group rooms makes the most of the interior possibilities: the children can hide in smaller zones, whilst the whole space remains transparent. The new kindergarten in Keszthely provides a safe and well-thought-out built environment for children’s everyday lives.

Lead architect: György Kisberzsenyi-Nagy DLA – ADV Studio
Fellow architects: Tamás Rácz – Forma Ltfd., Donát Álmosdi, Sára Zöldi, Kitti Baranyai, Liza Formanek, Tibor Tánczos – ADV Studio; András Lucz, Karolina Szabó-Gulyás – Forma Ltd.
Structure: Péter Balázs Nagy – Moriarty
Landscape: Tamásné Rácz – Forma Ltd., Kinga Csaba
HVAC: Károly Kis – Forma Ltd.
Electrical engineering: Zsolt Madler
Public utilities: Bence Borsos – Moriarty
Graphics: Fanni Horváth – Forma Ltd.