ESTERHÁZY CASTLE, BALATONFÜRED

Location Balatonfüred, Táncsics Mihály utca 1.
Client Municipality of Balatonfüred
Floor area 1 370 m2
General designer MCXVI Architects
Leading architect designers László Herczeg, Tamás Vörös DLA
Architect colleagues Gergely Galántai, Katalin Pirchala, Dániel Szabó
Leading interior designer Kata Csaba
Interior design colleagues Dénes Kovács, Zsófia Paál
Project phase Built
Project year 2017-2024

The Municipality of Balatonfüred aims to renovate the building of the former Esterházy hotel, which was repossessed. The building was privately owned for a long time and its condition deteriorated, and has not been used in the last twenty years. The house built at the end of the 1700s, as one of the first elements of the Reformed Bath town, is of special importance for the history of the town. The building can be re-opened to the community during the renovation process by getting museum function.

The design program has been tailored to the needs of this building. Since the original hotel structure did not have a larger community space, it was a task to create a larger, interconnected space providing entrance functions. The building to be reconstructed and the 358/2 adjacent property had a restaurant that was always one unit. It comes from this fact that, although this dossier does not address this, it is nevertheless a goal to have a reciprocal, functional cooperation between the two buildings. The garden enclosed by the two buildings is not separated from the plot, it is functionally connected, the planned renovation lasts until the contours of the buildings. On request, the ground floor of the building contains public functions that can be visited by the public at any time. There is a strong cooperation between the buildings and the garden. Functions to be built: cafeteria, museum pedagogy, gift shop, information, toilets. The exhibition halls of the building are on the first and second floors. It was also a task to utilize the garden area towards Lake Balaton.
Larger, non-functional demands generated by the under construction of the existing building or the installation of its roofs have not arisen. The aim was to create a proportional plan according to the features of the present building and respecting its monumental character.