Public Choice Award

For ten years, Beta has been awarding quality architectural initiatives and projects in Romania, Hungary and Serbia. The international jury for each edition is made up of renowned architects, and the awards reflect our determination to promote authors and projects with a beneficial impact on the built environment.

For the first time in this competition, we have introduced the People's Award, through which we aim to improve the connection between architects and the general public, emphasizing the importance of architecture that directly addresses the values and needs of society.

We all live in and use the city and the spaces that architects design, so we want the Beta Awards to recognize the preferences of the general public. The Public Award is our way of bringing quality architecture closer to the general public and promoting those architectural projects that make us proud of the cities we live in. Each person can vote for one project in the categories of Built Space, Interior Space, Public Space, Graduate Projects and Research.

The public vote will be open together with the awards exhibition and will run until the end of the competition, when the project with the most votes will be awarded at the Beta 2024 Awards Gala.

Built Space

Non-residential / Interventions on existent

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votes of the public

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+7

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votes of the public

Béla Bánáti

Author(s) / Team representatives

Béla Bánáti

Profession

architect

Collective/office

Bánáti + Hartvig Architects

Co-authors/team members

Béla Bánáti, Judit Zajacz, Szabolcs Lénárt

Project location

Budapest, Hungary

Budget in euros

80.000.000 EUR

Usable area

15875 M2

Project start date

2014

Construction completion date

July 2023

Client

QPR Properties Kft.

Builder

DVM Group Kft.

Website

See Website

Photo credits

Tamás Bujnovszky

Download the exhibition panel
PDF

Text presentation of the author/office in English

At Bánáti + Hartvig Architects design buildings that respect their environment and enhance the quality of their surroundings, respond to developing communities’ aspirations for the future, provide comfortable and healthy living and working spaces, and offer attractive venues for cultural and leisure activities. Spurred by our commitment to sustainable development, in meeting our clients’ needs, we strive to create future-proof, environmentally friendly and likeable buildings. Teamwork that builds on the creativity of all our designers provides the foundation of how our design community works. Collective thinking means that our knowledge, experience and values are not just aggregated but multiplied. Our portfolio ranges from large-scale, complex projects to condominiums and detached houses requiring a personal touch, all designed as the outcome of a professional process to a high architectural quality.

Project description in English

The Drechsler Palace stands as one of Budapest’s emblematic historic buildings, showcasing the stylistic characteristics of the French Renaissance. Constructed in the late 19th century to the design of Ödön Lechner, the palace’s history has been marked by various phases. Unfortunately, in 2002, it fell into disuse, leading to rapid deterioration of its condition. Consequently, the timing for its reconstruction became crucial. Last year, it reopened as part of the W hotel chain. Apart from the primary goal of preserving and reconstructing the building’s architectural merits, the design work aimed to fulfill the expectations of form and technical requirements inherent in a design-oriented luxury hotel. These criteria were interdependent, creating expressions of form that mutually reinforced the historical values and contemporary architectural solutions. In this manner, the building remained faithful to the open, experimental spirit of Ödön Lechner.

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