Vizafogó Kindergarten, Budapest

Architects: Csaba Nagy, Károly Pólus, Ágnes Tőrös
Text: Sándor Csontó
Photos: Tamás Bujnovszky

The local government commissioned Archikon Architects to design the extension and renovation of Vizafogó kindergarten with a capacity of 200 at the end of 2017. Surrounded by tower blocks now, it was opened 40 years ago as a single-storey prefab structure, and was in a run-down condition. The old building of the kindergarten has an updated, unique character as a result of modernization and extension of a minimal degree. By freeing certain parts of the structures, transubstantiation, mass formation – the preserving-converting approach – is already a firm statement of a new architectural concept. The open-covered protected transitory zones, the rooms filtered with natural light and transparency counteract and even make us forget the coldness of the prefab context – and thus the archetypal house interpretation is also solved. From the foyer, an open atrium evolves, where also the aula leads us. This is the view that the changing rooms face, towards the foyer upstairs and the rooms of the groups. By shifting forward the eastern facade planes the rooms of the groups have stepped forward with a tract and the rooms thus created offered space for the new rooms, whilst facilitating unhindered communication. A spectacular part of the extension is the outdoor deck directly connected with the inner rooms on both levels, and also provide rooms protected against weather conditions.

General design: Archikon Kft.
Architects: Csaba Nagy, Károly Pólus, Ágnes Tőrös
Fellow architects: Miklós Batta, Gábor Laczkó, Jakab Urbán, Bence Várhidi, Nikoletta Zsidai
Structure: Tibor Pintér
HVAC: Zoltán Sor
Electrical engineering: István Karácsony
Fire protection: György Decsi
Kitchen technology: Árpád Rátonyi
Elevator: Sándor Nagy
Client: Budapest Főváros XIII. Kerületi Önkormányzata