Reconstruction of a Protected Historic Residential Building, Budapest, Víziváros

Architects: Kinga Garaguly, Bernadett Hild-Csorba
Text: Eszter Götz
Photos: Aliona Frankl

Along the stairs that wind up Castle Hill in Buda, there is a small residential building standing in ruins for a long time. The local government of the Buda Castle District worked out a reconstruction project for this protected historic monument after several years’ preparation and thorough research as for the protection of listed buildings, archeology and restoration research to expose each stone of the building. The result is a live legendary, a treasury of building materials and styles of 500 years each component of which is rich in meanings. The local government as the client accepted the designers’ proposal with an exemplary approach so that the reconstruction could be realised with a minimal degree of intervention to house a single large-plan two-storey apartment in the building high-standard and tailor-made for a high-society tenant whilst respecting the architectural fragments as much as possible.

Design: Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum- Nemzeti Örökségvédelmi Központ
Architects: Kinga Garaguly, Bernadett Hild-Csorba
Fellow architects: Dr. Zsófia Lukács, Ibolya Ráthné Tóth, Emőke Juhász
Structure: Dr. András Vándor, Gergő Szarka
Technical installations: Anna Deákné Dohar
Electrical engineering: Nóra Károlyi
Garden: Rita Remeczki
Isolation: Dr. László Kakasy
Geodesy: Péter Szökrön
Fire protection: Áron Kerényi
Úttervező: István Bokker
Historical research: Péter Farbaky, Hild-Ybl Alapítvány
Building research: Norbert, Jankovics Anna Simon, Renáta Kupovics
Art research: Anna Selmeczi, Lajos Velledits
Archaeology: Judit Benda – BTM
Expert of preservation: Dr Judit Janotti
Fresco restoration: Edina Fodor
Stone restoration: Zsolt Karácsony, Szabolcs Csányi
Wood restoration: Zoltán Jeney
Project management: István Márkus – Budavári Önkormányzat
Main contractor: 3R Kft.