Architect: MAROSI Miklós
This corner building, accomodating different functions, fits into its surroundings elegantly, without being pseudo-archaic. High quality details of the facade and the special arrangement of windows and portals determine the individual style of the building.
The office building is located on the corner of Pálya Street and Kosciusko Street. It is separated from Mészáros Street by a small bay-like square, where protected horse chestnut trees and a white, human scale statue of Leda by Miklós Melocco create an intimate urban island. The plot had to be fully built up and this resulted in the design of a classical corner building, which adapts to the characteristic vertical structure of the opposite Mészáros Street: to the single storey shops without a gallery, to the simple plaster work of the walls and to the apartments with rooftop terraces.
The building has two basement floors, a ground floor and four upper floors. The floor plan is characterized by a diagonal symmetry, the angle of the corner is less than 90°. The entrance is located at the small square towards Mészáros Street. There are shops on the ground floor, offices on the upper floors and three apartments in the lower attic. Mechanical installations occupy the upper part of the attic. The two basement floors of the building provide parking for the specified number of cars, with entrance from Kosciuszko Street.
The facades have light coloured sand-lime brick cladding with a rustic looking surface, created by using both smooth and split-face bricks. The arrangement and rhythm of the windows and portals are varied, with reflective glazing of a greenish hue. High quality details dominate, yet they do not compete with the nice modernist building of the neighbouring grammar school. The building has no archaic features, it reacts to every impulse given by its surroundings. The fine and unobtrusive reflections of the hands raised towards the sky (sculpture) and the branches of the horse chestnut trees, the razor- sharp, acute angled corner and the stylized repetition of the balconies typical in the street create a special atmosphere.
Location: Budapest I. Pálya utca 1. Built: 1996 Architect: MAROSI Miklós Associate architect: FARKAS Zoltán Interior architect: SZÉKELYI Zsuzsa Area: 2330 m2
