"For us, going to Lake Balaton is anything but a sunscreen-scented day at the beach." - A talk with the architects of P8 Workshop
Three talented young people, a shared apartment at No. 8 Petőfi Street in Pécs and a shared passion - this is the brief summary of how the P8 Workshop architectural design team was born. It was inspired by the “Beyond Forms” initiative and the shapes of the Balaton fences and gates.
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On several occasions, we came across an interesting element with a funny design and always thought of it as a folk-art motif. Last December, the Hungarian Academy of Arts announced a design competition for Badacsony. The Academy was seeking ideas for a cultural and tourist centre on the western edge of the town, in an area between the ancient Roman road and the railway
- they say.
P8 Workshop describes itself as a design team, i.e., they are primarily involved in architectural design. Three men founded the studio, András (Andris) Bögös, Tamás (Tomi) Dancs and Péter (Peti) Zilahi. They emphasise that they define architecture in the classical, broad sense of the word: the team's portfolio ranges from minimal tasks to the creation of large-scale public buildings. "We don't want to specialise in typecast assignments. We are not motivated by the mere number of projects, but rather by the clients and the challenge of each assignment."
The team also boasts of two offices – with Tomi and Peti based in Pécs and Andris in Keszthely, they have established their bases in both cities. Their work can be found in many parts of the country, including Borsod County, Budapest, and the Great Plain. Still, most of their orders come from the Transdanubia region.
We have planned a medical clinic in Szekszárd. We are currently working on developing the surroundings of Simontornya Castle. The new bus station in Komló was recently completed. But we also have a lot of work around Lake Balaton, which are, without exception, our favourite projects
- Peti says.
Our projects around Lake Balaton are mainly smaller, detached houses or holiday homes. We've designed new residential or accommodation buildings in Badacsonytördemic, Barnag, Gyenesdiás, Keszthely and several other villages in the Balaton region. But there have also been equally challenging renovations and conversions
- adds Andris.
The team members have travelled around Lake Balaton several times on targeted study trips. They often take their families to the lake for relaxation and camping. As a Fellow of the Hungarian Academy of Arts, Andris's work also focuses on an iconic Balaton site, the Emmaus (Ify) Chapel on St. George Hill, which unfortunately collapsed recently.
This work also helped the architectural team in creating a design entry for the Hungarian Academy of Arts competition for Badacsony.
Our design is based on a stone buttress, a common feature in the landscape around Badacsony, and extending it into a building. As an important architectural element and to counterbalance the heaviness of the stone, we have also designed a pergola-like vine spring for the building. The main element and component of the arbour is the 'Balaton fence', which, framed panel by panel, would preserve the fence and serve as subtle shading and would be suitable for outdoor exhibitions.
The brief for the competition was to design a cultural and tourist centre, which P8 Workshop envisioned by creating a rest and accommodation facility for cyclists. Cycling around the lake is not far from the team members' minds.
As a Keszthely resident, I often cycle around town and use the coastal cycle path, but I do it more for local transport. However, we also go on excursions, especially along the bay of Keszthely, on distances fit for my children. I pedalled around the lake once, and on that trip, we slept in occasional accommodations. The idea occurred to me then that it would be nice for cyclists to have a place to stay near the Balaton Bringakörút, (Balaton Bicycle Circuit) where they can sleep in seasonal tents or small, non-luxurious wooden huts and go on their way the next morning
- Andris recounts his own experiences.
When asked what are their future plans, they give a wide range of answers. They have recently been involved in designing a building in Hamburg's HafenCity in Germany. While they continue to cultivate their contacts abroad, especially in Berlin, they intend to concentrate more on the domestic market. They say, they are now looking at designing and extending educational buildings on a larger scale, at creating installations, exhibitions, and even an album of their designs.
"At the moment, we are planning a residential building in Káptalantót and a residential building in Dörgicse. In the vineyards of Pécsely, Lesenceistvánd and Sümeg, press house renovations are underway. We have a semi-permanent presence in the Lake Balaton region, which we are pleased about," they say.
