Functionality and people-centredness in Újbuda's newest living spaces

We spoke with Ákos Balla, sales director of Bayer Property, about one of the company's most important developments, the new Elite Park in Újbuda. In the area bordered by Budafoki út, Barázda utca, Szerémi út and Galvani utca, close to the Danube, two blocks are being built next to a former building in the style of the Bayer Construct Zrt., between which the huge plot of land will allow for the creation of numerous playgrounds and recreational areas.

The development will build 464 apartments

There is no car traffic in the garden, so children are really free to let off to play, creating an enclosed, safe environment between the nine-storey apartment buildings, whose true height is barely perceptible due to the optical play of the façade that is set back from the sixth floor. These fractures appear on all sides of the buildings, making them appear to be only six-storey buildings, which gives them a more welcoming feel than similar scale projects - a fact reinforced by the colours on the façade. The space provided by the setbacks has been used to create larger terraces, where each roof section is the slab of the apartment above, but none is oversized. An effort was made to avoid creating huge terraces of 200 square metres.

This was also possible because the buildings open up the useful spaces to the outside, while at their core there is space for circulation and storage.

"The focus is on apartments with different floor levels for greater intimacy"

- emphasised Ákos Balla.

The raised ground level of the blocks of Elite Park provided the opportunity to create garden-connected apartments, with a garden sunken from the ground level, separated from the common garden by a wall instead of a hedge.

As the sales director pointed out, "it should be remembered that this is a metropolitan development, which has the advantage of infrastructure to the city and motorway, and easy access to shopping and entertainment; in return, a large number of apartments are being built, so the project is not comparable to a 4-6 apartment suburban development".

Many of the prefabricated elements have been delivered to the building: slab panels or balcony support structures have arrived ready for construction, which is an important part of the Bayer Property property development strategy. With 464 apartments being built, prefabrication was a huge help during the construction phase.

Responding to a price-sensitive market

Although the product is in many cases of better quality than its competitors, the company strives to provide housing at a lower price than its competitors, which is achieved through a number of efficiency and cost-cutting measures. The Elite Park properties are district-heated because they are cheap and environmentally friendly, simple and easy to use, and the fact that they offer customers only two different combinations of finishes helps to maintain their price advantage.

"This is a restriction in some respects, but at the same time," the director pointed out, "it gives us the opportunity to sell properties with, among other things, fitted kitchen appliances and air conditioning."

The energy classification of Elite Park buildings will be BB, which is the current standard. Only very few exceptions have more to offer than this - Balla cites the example of Bayer's Zugló City Centre project, where thermal water heating is being installed. However, special solutions are also reflected in prices.

The BB means that the house is well insulated and has good windows and doors. Not related to the rating, but important for customers, we learned, is the fact that district heating is a state-subsidized and Budapest-wide form of heating, so it is very reliable. The state will protect homes with district heating from both a supply and financial point of view, which is a big advantage.

The buildings of course meet all the standard values; they also try to provide more than the average in terms of thermal and acoustic insulation: the partition wall between the apartments has extra soundproofing, which, although it takes a little space, means a lot in terms of comfort. They also put a similar amount of effort into the built environment: they want the house and the garden to be a pleasant living space for their clients. While they try to use the best quality materials in the walls and slabs, instead of ceiling cooling-heating in this project they are providing radiator heating, as ceiling technology would significantly increase the construction cost and therefore the price.

Pleasant living spaces

Importantly, they do not build penthouse-style luxury apartments. Of course, large apartments for families are being built, with terraces large enough to serve as living space. A particular feature of this project is that the apartments are delivered with kitchen and hallway furniture, so that the client gets a higher level of finish. The installation of a kitchen in an apartment is a 5 to 6-step process, as it involves calling in a carpenter, selecting the kitchen appliances, etc., which can take months. In the company's experience, the kitchen and hallway wall offers customers objective value: two major problems are reduced and the homes can be occupied much sooner.

All apartments have a balcony or terrace as well as built-in air conditioning. The three-bedroom apartments for families, around 85 square metres, have two bathrooms, all with windows and light. The balconies are large enough to comfortably accommodate a dining table for four, but the one-and-a-half-bedroom apartments also have enough space for a small table.

"Here, of course, it was not possible to build terraces of the usual size for family houses, but we tried to create terraces with a depth of 180 centimetres, and from the 6th-7th level, from the setbacks, we could create much larger terraces" - Ákos Balla emphasised.