St Gellért Hotel and Study House, Székesfehérvár

Interior design: Pál Somogyi
Text: János Dobó
Photos: József Rosta

Guests, residents and visitors to St Gellért Hotel and study house in Székesfehérvár may witness today the rebirth of both the exterior and interior – a project which proves a most yielding meeting of the client, architects, interior designers and contractors. It is yet another educational example of the situation that more often than not there is an educated, sensible and demanding client from a church who backs a significant work of contemporary Hungarian architecture. This is the case now. The functions of the institution have remained essentially unchanged: it has preserved the mundane openness and welcoming character, whilst precisely reflecting the fact that the institution is meant to primarily accommodating visitors of the church as well as to house ecclesiastic functions with every attribute. The architectural and ideological credo of Somogyi is harmoniously blended in this duality with the same qualities that filter throughout the whole house to transcend it. The basement houses lecture rooms and auditoriums of various sizes, the ground floor contains the foyer with a newly composed entrance, a reception, a restaurant, a café, a lounge, as well as areas for relaxation. Because of increasing the number of rooms on the first floor, the room units and suites had to be re-configurated, and a new home chapel was also built next to the rooms on the second floor by a witty development of areas previously unused. The roof deck is used as before, to function as an area for relaxation, made complete with wooden plank components to separate its units that also facilitate intimacy.

Design – interiors, furniture, image, graphics: Pál Somogyi – KESO DESIGN Kft.
Fellow designers: Viktória Fazekas, Éva Várnagy Vukov
HVAC: Róbert Molnár – KIPTERV TMT Kft.
Electrical engineer: Gabriella Bukta – BOTA Kft.
Project manager: Mihály Scharer – Scharer Plan Kft.
Client: Székesfehérvár Egyházmegyei Hivatal, Spányi Antal megyés püspök, Csány Zoltán egyházi főépítész