Ludovika Sports Centre, Budapest

Architect: György Skardelli
Text: Bálint Botzheim
Photos: Eszter Walton

The new sports centre of the Hungarian National Public Service University serves two main types of activities. The first one includes sports that are directly associated with trainings offered by the institute, and these are completed by activities assisting the economic self-sustaining of the building. The main feature of this choice is of course sport, but a certain part of the building can also be rented for events as a venue. Orczy Garden, as one of the most significant parks of Budapest is wedged into the fabric of the city. Actually, the basic principle of the design of the sports centre is its relationship with the park. The eastern side of the building serves as a spatial wall, which in turn invites citizens into the extensive gardens like a gate. In order to serve such a wide variety of sports a complex functional and transport programme was required, as the building has to function much in the same way as a machinery, peaceful and tranquil on the outside, whilst providing undisturbed conditions for the simultaneous activities going on inside. This kind of strictly organised order is a reaction to the neoclassicist style, well-disciplined spatial configuration of the Ludovika building, and the forms included also follow the same principles. A simple prism form was used to house the multifunctional sports hall andthe swimming-pool. The two main units are connected with a covered-open space referred to by the designers as the Forum. The second facade of the sports centre is actually a rust-free steel structure grid equipped with a steel net to help plants creep onto the surface. In a few years’ time the vegetation shall serve as a natural shading expanse.

Leading architect: György Skardelli – KÖZTI Zrt.
Fellow architects: Dániel Farkas, Tibor Molnár, Miklós Vannay, Orsolya Kovács, Éva Sára Varga, Bálint Vida – KÖZTI Zrt.
Interiors: Judit Czéh – Szín-tér Bt., Zsuzsa Kerecsényi – ARCH-DENT Bt.
Structure: Imre Gurubi, Ádám Becker – KÖZTI Zrt., Béla Dobráter – Produktív Plusz Kft., Tamás Makrai – K+K Kft.
HVAC: Tamás Lukács, Szilárd Szakál, János Réti – KÖZTI Zrt.
Electrical engineering: László Kajtán – KÖZTI Zrt.
Automatization: László Harmath – IQ-Kft.
Sports technology: Zoltán Judik
Pool technology: Gábor Szebeni – Víz x Víz 99 Kft.
Landscape: Péter István Balogh, János Hómann – s73
Public utilities: Csaba Szabó – Mélyépterv Komplex Zrt.
Traffic: Ádám Rhorer – Közlekedés Kft.
Acoustics: András Kotschy – Kotschy és Társai Kft.