KÁPOSZTÁSMEGYER NEW RESIDENTIAL QUARTER

The location is the area next to the Káposztásmegyer housing estate, bordered by Külső Szilágyi út, Megyeri út and Farkaserdő. The New Residential Quarter (370 apartments) were realized here under the rental housing program of Újpest Local Council, in III phases. The rental apartments instituted in the location fit the districts housing management program and provide replacement housing for rehabilitation due in the district center.

The built-in’s central element was the curved line of houses built around the alley of trees that remained untouched in the area. Along the larger arc, the building itself is curved. Along the smaller side, the outer arc is formed to a building by a chord parallel to the tree-line (a building with two facades). The other wings, with their height ranging from G+3 to G+7 aim to create a diverse but coherent image. The buildings contain apartments mainly with 1+1/2 or 2 rooms, some arranged around landings but mostly with hanging-corridor arrangement. The design of the large number of apartments for rent was a significant challenge, because this genre didn’t have appropriate architectural or investor traditions since the Second World War up to the turn of the millennium, but it did have a lot of negative associations to it. We considered it important to analyse the solution not only from an architectural, but also from an operational point of view during the planning, and also to support the re-launch of rental housing construction. Relating to this notion we investigated the question of the optimal number of apartments belonging to one staircase. As far as providing a well-functioning layout that fits the tight budget, we deemed it necessary to create an architectural toolkit that is cost-effective and can assure some kind of a surplus toward the residents.

One of our tools was to design terraces supported by reinforced concrete blade walls which – while terminating the thermal bridges – resulted in a unique character and larger terraces than usual. Other alternatives tools were using curved lines, differentiated floor numbers, cantilevers and raising the parapets.