Buda Castle Visitor Center

What would be the way to expand a historic city quarter with contemporary buildings avoiding disharmonious results? It was the core concern of the architects when designing the Visitor Center and the Infopoint kiosks that use contemporary architecture solutions to reflect on their surroundings – figuratively and literally.

Function

The Visitor Center functions as the new information hub of the Castle and it was built based on the idea of the Castle Integrated Regional Development Center Nonprofit Zrt. and designed by architecture studio, BLOKK. The Hello Wood team was responsible for the implementation of the building. The 30-square-meter building is located in a special environment – in the centre of the Castle District, near Buda Castle.

Design process

During the design process, the focus was on creating a building that fits and responds to its sensitive surroundings. The typical architectural shapes of the Buda Castle District served as an exemplar, therefore the square body was crowned with a high roof characteristic of the building around. As a contemporary architectural solution, both the façade and the roof were covered with mirror cladding.

Contrast

The playful contrast of the exterior and the interior makes the Visitor Center and the Infopoints even more exciting. The reflective steel façade’s cold feel was paired with the bright and warm interior which is defined by the natural-coloured pine plywood cladding.

Interior

The skylight placed at the top of the high roof ensures the inflow of natural light and also emphasizes the monolithic appearance of the building. In order to be transportable and easy to assemble on-site, the building was constructed of 4 steel-framed modules, which were lifted into place by a crane.