Star Park, Zselic

Architects: Judit Erdélyi-Gáspár, Róbert Erdélyi
Text: Judit Fenyvesi
Photos: Barbara Deák, Judit Fenyvesi, Gábor Szellő

As a result of a large-scale development of tourist facilities including several structures, the Star Park of Zselic had been completed by the summer of 2015. Being the least light-polluted area of Hungary, it is located in the depths of the forest of the Transdanubian Hills, which came to be listed as one of the International Dark Sky Park in 2009. Long-cherished dream of astronomists was matched in this project with the ambition of the management of the forests in Zselic to create new tourist-targeted facilities. As a result, they came up with the comprehensive idea in 2012 to construct a main building to house the observatory, a look-out tower, a constellation park and several information points in the forest.
As there was no existing man-built environment to adjust the building to, the complex does not ambition to be like a building: it simply evokes a box placed here instead. When viewed from a distance, it features uncertain scales, as no actual architectural components are visible from the outside, such as a high roof, a chimney or drainpipes. The modest forms it is made up of actually evoke traditional agricultural timber architecture: it only features some simple blocks clad in wood. There is only one reference to its function on the exterior: the white dome of the observatory on the roof of the building which, in turn, also has symbolic significance. The building typically closed from the direction visitors approach it only allows to see through it via the slit next to the cylinder form housing the planetarium and thus we can have a view across the entrance in the direction of the valley. On the side facing the valley, however, the density of the facade is thinned at several points, and the interior connects to the exterior via larger expanses of glass. The view of the neighbouring hills invites visitors to experience the very atmosphere of the forest.

Architecture: ERGA Stúdió Kft.
Leading architects: Judit Erdélyi-Gáspár , Róbert Erdélyi
Fellow architects: Anett Hegedűs, Eszter Durbák, Judit Molnár, György Somorácz, Andrea Fügedi
Interior design: Orsolya Barna, Viktor Pucsek, Mátyás Balázs
Structure: Attila Borbély, Csaba Bertalan, Gábor Liptovszky, Anna Soós
HVAC: József Bíró, László Lukács
Electrical engineering: András Széll
Accessibility: Gábor Szűcs
Garden design: Dániel Kontra, Borbála Király-Salgó – Urban Concept Kft.
Acoustics: Éva Borsiné Arató, Zsuzsanna Alabárdos – Arató Akusztikai Kft.
Fire protection: Béla Nagy, Gabriella Pukánszky
Lighting: Eszter Barbara Szabó – Be Light Kft.
Building structure consultant: Péter Handa
Experts on environment and astronomy: Zoltán Kolláth – MCSE, Tibor Hegedűs – Astrotech Kft, Zoltán Szegvári – DDNPI
Contractors: Mega-Logistic Zrt., Axis 94 Kft.
Client: Sefag Zrt.