Annagora Villa Park, Balatonfüred

In Balatonfüred, the “Greek Village” has for decades been the commonly used — and by now almost proverbial — name for a strange formation that was originally conceived with a Greek-inspired atmosphere as a commercial, and later entertainment, district. In any case, the disappearance of this building complex, alien both to the lakeside setting of Balaton and to Hungarian building culture in general, had long been a wish of the city, as well as of citizens with good taste.
We were, and are, able to participate in the implementation of the city’s new vision as winners of an invited design competition. We developed numerous alternatives both for the use of the site and for the character of the new development. Eventually, the concept took shape that a public park could be created on the lower part of the site, towards Road 71, with a new villa-scale residential development above it.
We designed a total of 91 apartments in seven villas of identical character. The T-shaped, four-unit layout of the villas made it possible for every apartment to have a view of Lake Balaton. In shaping the volumes, we carefully avoided the stepped, ziggurat-like arrangement that would have resulted from maximising the built-up area. Instead, we composed distinctive houses from elements of varying heights, with large apartments, generous residential terraces, and simple, enclosed volumes.
The buildings were placed on the sloping terrain in a checkerboard arrangement, at distances from one another that allow pleasant views through and between them. The green areas between the buildings continue into the park, and according to the concept, no fence will be built. All cars are placed below ground level, and in general we aimed, in every respect, to achieve a level of quality appropriate to the location.
The louvred shutters used on the terraces and façades, as well as the durable ceramic façade cladding, were important parts of the concept — elements that were also specifically confirmed by the opinions of the design review board. We hope that our concept will not be compromised during implementation.