This is how the 18th century castle will look when it is renovated as a school

Gergely Sztranyák and his team of architects (Veronika Sztranyák, Kristóf Csató and Katalin Júlia Tésits) came first and won the architectural design competition for the Cserhátliget Primary School in Penc near Vác, according to the Deputy State Secretary for Architectural Strategy Építési és Közlekedési Minisztérium (ÉKM) at the school's architectural design competition award ceremony in Pest County on Tuesday.

Lóránt Perényi said that the ministry purchased nine of the submitted tenders, from which the winner was selected. The call for applications was published on 29 April 2025, and applicants had just over two months to submit their entries. "The jury meeting was held on 23 July, and today we have reached the festive moment to announce the results", the Deputy State Secretary added.

Students are currently studying in containers

As summarised by hely.hu summary , the task was particularly important because the students are currently forced to study in temporary container classrooms. The 18th-century Evva Castle, which is used as a school building and is decorated with a characteristic gabled roof, has deteriorated to such an extent that renovation is no longer sufficient, and the limited space also justifies the construction of new buildings for the institution.

The jury presented the winning entry as follows

"The entry responds to the complex set of criteria set out in the call for entries with a restrained elegance, pragmatic and timeless architectural tools. The design is well in line with the relevant principles of the Hungarian Architecture Act, such as the minimum necessary, the integration of the site based on tradition and contemporary knowledge, or the principles of civic taste and architectural quality.

The concept of the entry is based on four pillars: context, scale, transparency and perpetuation. The building, defined by the four cornerstones, is well proportioned in terms of the townscape, in keeping with tradition, and easy to construct from an architectural point of view. The degree and manner of articulation of the mass and the formation of the facades give the new school the necessary sophistication and likeability. The building is equally suited to the cultural and social events of a small community and to the smooth running of school events (...)"