BGE Library and Student Centre, Budapest

Architects: Péter Gereben, Balázs Marián
Text: Mihály Balázs
Photos: Balázs Danyi

The BGE Library and Student Centre is located in a typical Eastern European urban landscape: a social-rehab housing estate built in the 1950s, with a neighbourhood of detached houses with gardens. Between the two there is a space left vacant for public institutions, which was converted into a university campus in the 1970s and 1980s. The site looks like a spacious grove, thanks to the system of landscaped areas between the blocks — a characteristic of socialist urbanism — and the well-scaled buildings. One of the first and most important decisions made by the designers was to remove the street fence, and thus freeing the previously isolated front garden to become part of the free-flowing spaces of the parks. The functional remodelling of the building parts, the removal of certain components (such as the old kitchen), the creation of the new restaurant and the recreational spaces have brought about a significant qualitative change, and the extension itself has made the whole complex function as a coherent whole. As a result of the renovation project, the complex has been given a new meaning and a renewed sense of purpose, its façade has been updated and the extension has provided a new context. The result is a 21st century work of art, both in the physical and intellectual sense, incorporating the most modern architectural materials, structures and concepts of our time.

Client: TU Budapest
General planning: Gereben Marián Architects
Lead architects: Péter Gereben, Balázs Marián
Assistant architects: Gergely Gergő Bódi, Miklós Dormán, Ödön Hajnal, Júlia Ivicsics, Júlia Kovács, Gábor Percz, Sára Tábi, András Ábrahám-Fúrús
Structure: Gábor Romits – R.H.K. Ltd.
HVAC: Olivér Mészáros – Mevaplan Team Engineers
Electrical engineering: Zoltán Ivanics, Olivér Nagy – Provill
Fire protection: György Decsi – Fireeng
Environment: Sándor Mohácsi, Dóra Polareczki – S73
Kitchen technology: András Gauland – Teco-Gastro
Traffic: Ádám Rhorer – Közlekedés Ltd.
Accessibility: Anna Kormányos
Interiors: Ivicsics Júlia – Gereben Marián Architects, András Göde, Katalin Horváthné Maróti, Edina Király – Kroki Ltd.
Info graphics: Béla Hegyi
Main contractor: Laterex Építő Ltd.