Renewal of a downtown block, Balatonfüred

Architect: Tamás Varga
Text: Domonkos Wettstein
Photos: Tamás Varga, Antal Szentendrei

An urban block is rare in urban development in Hungary of a city centre integrating building units and functions of various characters. In Balatonfüred, however, a planned urban renewal programme has been in place for almost two decades. Although in recent years the former strategy has been transformed in many ways, this year the block rehabilitation in the Ófalu district, which was completed in association with the European Union’s Green City Programme, is also the result of years of preparatory work. The development strategy for the block concerned was to significantly transform the status quo and open up the closed-off block. Tamás Varga’s office, which has been involved in several developments in Füred, was commissioned to prepare the plans. The design programme specified the placement of condominiums with a higher intensity than the previous development. Between the existing buildings and the adjacent public buildings, the new development allowed for the creation of narrow pedestrian alleys, which then branched off to lead to the residential buildings.
Two institutions, the Law Courts and the Municipal Offices were built on the corner of the Lower Street, while on the other side of the block a new complex of buildings was constructed for the Local History Collection and the adjacent multi-functional music hall.

Client: Municipality of Balatonfüred
Lead architect: Tamás Varga DLA
Fellow architect: Luca Varga
Structure: Dezső Hegyi Dr, Tamás Ther
HVAC: Benedek Végh
Electrical engineering: Judit Balázs
Roads: Dénes Tódor
Fire protection: András Székács
Contractors: Gótika Ltd, Vber Ltd