Zöldike Nursery, Budatétény

Architects: Csaba Nagy, Károly Pólus, Krisztina Horváth, Dorottya Kassai, Ádám Pásztor, Szilveszter Rády, Zsófia Senánszky
Text: Anna Zöldi
Photos: Balázs Danyi

Designed by Archikon architects, the nursery was built on a hilltop in Budatétény as a continuation of the team’s line of understated, rational and cleanly structured educational facilities. Instead of fish, now bird motifs appear on the walls to remind us of the importance of nature in the world of infancy. Zöldike („Greenie”) day nursery is white on the exterior, but green in its operations, and very colourful in its architectural concept, even though it follows a seemingly neutral architectural design when we look at it for the first time. The building’s mass blends in with the terrain, gently following its slope. It faces the street with its hipped roof, and the considerable depth of the site is arranged around three internal courtyards open to the public access. Its three sections are interconnected by a fairly wide corridor on the service side of the building, the floor of which takes up the level shift resulting from the slanting ground by means of a ramp-like design. Each unit contains two rooms opening from each other and are connected by a spacious restroom block. One side of the group units is glazed all over and opens into the adjoining courtyard and its spacious porch covered by a canopy of trees that reach far out.

General plans: Archikon
Architects: Csaba Nagy, Károly Pólus, Krisztina Horváth, Dorottya Kassai, Ádám Pásztor, Szilveszter Rády, Zsófia Senánszky
Structure: Tibor Pintér – Éki Terv Ltd.
HVAC: Csaba Makáry – Agorex Ltd.
Electrical engineering: György Kapitor– Zone-Plan Ltd.
Fire protection: Gabriella Pukánszky – Nokesy Design Ltd.
Landscape: Edina Massány – Open Air Design Ltd.
Kitchen technology: Árpád Rátonyi – Quartisse Ltd.
Budget: József Schneider – Archi-Modul Ltd.
Client: Municipality of Budapest 22th District
Main contractor: Archibona Ltd.