Tamás Katkics received the audience award in Madrid.

Winners were announced of 66 international architectural Baumit Life Challenge. The invitational tournament featured 252 tenders from 22 countries in 6 categories, and the 12-member international jury evaluated the works .

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As if a fairy had converted this rundown, characterless building of a nursery school to a magic house in fairyland! The municipal council of Szabadszállás, in central Hungary, converted the nursery school to a fairytale-like building which immediately became a prominent sight of the town.

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A contemporary fairytale house awaits the children in the renovated and expanded nursery school of Szabadszállás in Hungary. The municipal council of the town had the courage to approve a creative architectural plan which breaks with the design prevalent for nursery schools built in the 1960s and 1970s, which does not fit into the landscape nor to the world of children. The exterior and the features of the original, unarticulated block did not meet children’s requirements neither in the aesthetic, nor in the technical aspects of the building. During its renovation, the nursery school gained an insulated façade, new windows, doors and a roof, and a gym created in a small, new house vibrant with colours, featuring an arched roof. The transition between the two parts of the building was aptly solved with an elliptical entrance.  At the same time, the playful form, perfectly in line with the function, did not become an end in itself, since the fairytale house meets all the requirements.

Architect: Katkics és Társa Építészeti Tervező Bt.  

Location: Hungary/Szabadszállás 

Year: 2014 

Applicator: Horváth Építőmester Zrt.