The Aranybika hostel in Debrecen, the local education center of the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) Foundation, will be renewed and a new wing will be added – it was announced with the results of the design tender for the works on the site.
Out of the five valid entries, the judging panel judged Napur Architect Kft.’s application as the best, which “from an architectural point of view gives a real answer to the presentation of the spirit of MCC”, and the winning entry created the most overall effect with the built environment – Gábor Erhardt, the board, explained the decision. vice president.
Péter Lánczi, MCC’s general deputy director-general, said at the presentation of the performance awards,
the MCC is already present in 24 places in the Carpathian basin with an education and training program that implements the “quality form of talent care”.
Six thousand students from elementary school to university participate in the programs, they are present in Debrecen from 2020, and they educate more than 300 students, he added, noting that they want to bring their programs geographically close to the students, which is why they are present in every county.
He added that they consider it their mission to renovate old, unused, often dilapidated buildings as the home of the MCC, such as the patinated Aranybika hostel in Debrecen, which previously functioned not only as a hotel but also as a community and cultural space.
The purpose of the design competition was to plan the complete renovation, transformation, and expansion of the former Aranybika hostel. The hostel will be a new meeting point for educational and cultural activities, said Péter Lánczi.
Mayor László Papp said that the city could enjoy the renewal of an iconic building.
Aranybika was one of the important centers of the cultural and social life of Debrecen in the past and will continue to be in the city center in the future
– he added.
The mayor pointed out that the townspeople did not like or accept the socialist wing of the hostel, which will now be demolished. Although the designer of the original building, Alfréd Hajós, did not plan another wing, he said it is now being built.
Gábor Erhardt, the vice-chairman of the evaluation committee and the head of the MCC’s architectural workshop, indicated that six building plans were submitted to the tender, and one project was excluded. In addition to the prize-winning entry, no second prize was awarded, two applications achieved shared third place, and two entries were purchased. Péter Lánczi presented the awards to the company manager of the winning Napur Építészeti Iroda Kft., Ybl award-winning architect Ferencz Marcel and the other awardees.
According to the plans, the original building of the former hostel will undergo a full-scale historic renovation, and a new part of the building will be created to accommodate the MCC’s educational program. The revitalization of the interior of the block will also be achieved by creating a public green space, it was announced at the event.
MTI
Photo: MTI/Reproduction/Zsolt Czeglédi
