Zoo Visitors’ Centre and Hotel Pangea, Nyíregyháza

Architect: Attila Gáva
Text: Rita Tuczai
Photos: György Palkó

Selected as the best of its kind in Europe in 2018, the Zoological Gardens of Nyíregyháza has a new visitors’ centre which is also the symbolic gate of Sóstógyógyfürdő, a district of the city, which in turn is rated as one of the most significant tourist resorts of Hungary. Projecting like a brace, the roof on the facade stops the mass of visitors both visually and physically. Light passes through the vast, open system of struts and thus the abstract shadows cast on the ground change with the movement of the sun. This in turn evokes the atmosphere of the zoo in advance. The rectangular shaped entry system of the new complex entry is perpendicular to the stream of the building masses with its longitudinal side. The reception building attracts visitors with its gradually decreasing interior height, and then distributes them evenly at the ticket-offices raised at the communication level. With its open side, the passage joins the garden. When designing the four-star Pangea Eco-Centre and Hotel the architect, Attila Gáva consistently followed his devotion to embedding his building into nature, and to connecting his designs with the atmosphere of the site. The hotel does not only offer services, but also the chance to have unusual experiences of the local spirit, and is actively contributing to constructing this milieu further on, as well as reinterpreting it. The two buildings are different in their spatial organisation owing to their different functions, they have similar functional formal components – the characteristic slender design of the columns, the balconies, the doors of the hotel, and the fine wainscoting of the reception desk in the visitors’ centre, reflect one another to show the awareness that its architects meant to give architecture an important role in the development of this district of the city which is uniquely atmospheric.

Zoo Visitors’ Centre

General design: Gav-Art Studio Kft.
Leading architect: Attila Gáva
Fellow architect: István Kertész – Gav-Art Studio Kft.
Structure: László Kardos – K 21 Kft., Kácsor István – Bemp Kft.
HVAC: Tibor Roland Simon – Krepon Bt.
Electrical engineering: Géza Rác – Vill-Terv Kft.
Interiors: Attila Gáva – Gav-Art Studio Kft.
Public utilities: Károly Bíró – Bíró és Társa Kft.
Environment: Péter Márton – Fő-Kert-Ész Bt.
Main contractor: KE-VÍZ 21 Zrt.
Client: Nyíregyháza Megyei Jogú Város Önkormányzata

Hotel Pangea

General design: Gav-Art Studio Kft.
Leading architect: Attila Gáva
Fellow architect: István Kertész – Gav-Art Studio Kft.
Interiors: István Szenes – Szenes Design Studio Kft.
Structure: Zoltán Tóth – Steel Soft Kft., István Kácsor – Bemp Kft.
HVAC: Tibor Roland Simon – Krepon Bt.
Electrical engineering: Géza Rác – Vill-Terv Kft.
Public utilities: Károly Bíró – Bíró és Társa Kft.
Kitchen technology: Gábor Finta – Egészség Tervező Műhely Kft.
Environment: Péter Márton – Fő-Kert-Ész Bt.
Main contractor: KE-VÍZ 21 Zrt.
Client: Nyíregyháza Megyei Jogú Város Önkormányzata