A Three-Group Day Nursery in Józsefváros

Architects: Tamás Vörös, György Alföldi, Péter Bach, Csaba Kisgergely
Text: Levente Szabó
Photo: Zsolt Frikker

On a corner site in Józsefváros a new day nursery was built to replace the former single-floor kindergarten. Flanked by 12-17 m partition walls the new two-storey structure is only 3-9 m tall. The basic situation is a result of the dramatic tension between the faculties of the site and the design programme: the latter only justified a development 20% compared to the maximum allowed here. Thus it is not a building with the maximum potentials of what it could have been, but one with the dimensions needed – this is how it is also an impression of the era of its construction. The strategy chosen by the designers involved the risk whether or not a new quality can be created by the method going beyond the expectations resulting from the function and the urban position that has ensued owing to the inevitably unique situation exclusively. Just like irregular cases in linguistic structures this nursery building is an exception to the rules. This uniqueness has reason, origins and significant additional value for architecture.

Architects: Alföldi György, Bach Péter, Kisgergely Csaba, Vörös Tamás
Client: Budapest Főváros VIII. Kerület Józsefvárosi Önkormányzat
Fellow architect: Faragó Csaba
Statics: Halics Péter
Technical installations: Léderer György
Electrical engineering: Kelemen Ferenc
Structure: Takács Balázs
Kitchen technology: Gauland András
Environment: Rodé Lajos
Garden design: Tihanyi Dominika, Lukács Katalin, Thurnay Dorottya
Project managers: ifj. Erdősi Sándor, Szép Péter
Design: Rév8 Zrt.