Károly Kós Vocational School, Érd

Architects: Katalin Csillag, Zsolt Gunther
Text: Tamás Kiss
Photos: Balázs Danyi

It has been 18 months since our report on the first stage of the expansion project of Kós Károly Vocational School in Érd, and now the entire complex has been completed. Taking advantage of the features of the sloping site, the new units, which complement the simple, brick-clad, L-shaped, flat-roofed structure built in the early 1970s, are structured in parallel blocks that cut into the topography, partly below the former ground surface. The intelligent use of terracing thus ensures the overall harmony of the whole complex with its surroundings, and also gives an impression of terraced articulation to its immediate context. The new building volume is clad in the strongly rustic, grey-coloured metallic lamella cladding already familiar from the previous batch. An important part of the whole complex is the bridge-like section that connects the buildings of the two stages, which houses the library. Opposite the entrance there is a spacious roof terrace, which opens onto an intimate, transitional space.

Client: Municipality of Érd
Lead architects: Katalin Csillag, Zsolt Gunther
Project architect: Ádám Farkas
Fellow architects: Dorottya Garay-Kiss, Veronika Novák, Júlia Boromissza, Tamás Csépke, Anna Sára Kiss, Sarolta Rab, Petra Reményi, Krisztina Tari, Tommaso Laezza
Structure: Balázs Puskás – Terraplan’97 Engineering
HVAC: Zoltán Gróza – Körös Consult
Public utilities: Etele Nagy – Körös Consult
Electrical engineering: Ferenc Kelemen – Kelevill-FZ
Fire protection: Bendegúz Csuba – OPTOMM Engineering
Landscape: Enikő Kapás – Departer
Environment protection: Ervin Kanász-Szabó – Akusztika Engineering
Acoustics: Éva Borsiné Arató – Arató Acoustics
Roads, traffic: Miklós Wettstein – Wettstein & Co.
Kitchen technology: Piroska Kaszab – Kende Gastro
Sports technology: Mihály Budai