Pázmány Campus on the starting line: soon to be revealed who will demolish the Radio buildings

A public tender has been announced for the demolition of the former Radio buildings on the Pázmány Campus site. In Budapest's 8th district, in the area bordered by Bródy Sándor Street, Pollack Mihály Square – Múzeum Street – Szentkirályi Street, eight buildings are to be completely or partially demolished, according to Public Procurement Notice. Applications for the tender can be submitted until 7 December. The organiser has 240 days to evaluate the bids.

According to the call, the only exception is one building, part of which will be demolished during construction to preserve the street frontage. There are also listed buildings in this area of the Palace Quarter, but these will not be affected by the works. The demolition will affect the former buildings and studios of the Hungarian Radio. According to the document, the buildings to be demolished are located in the area:

• Building B/1: Former five-storey office building of the Hungarian Radio, boiler house, bunker;
• Building D/1: Bródy Sándor 5-7. was once the building of the Hungarian Radio;
• Building D/2 - D/8: archive, studios, garage and workshop.

The largest of these is the 8 400 square metre building B/1, where the call for tender states that around 7 600 cubic metres of demolition material will have to be removed.

The document indicates the useful area of each building to be demolished and the amount of demolition material to be removed. This means that a total of 32 600 square metres will have to be demolished in the Palace Quarter, which means 37 500 cubic metres of rubble, which means that, according to the Józsefváros Newspaper, around 1630 trucks will be needed to remove the rubble.

According to earlier reports, the cost of the project will reach HUF 200 billion, with the handover planned for 2027.

Price is the main evaluation criterion in the call for tenders, with noise and vibration only ranking 5th and 7th.

In the former buildings of the Hungarian Radio in the Palace Quarter of Yózsefváros, the previously fragmented Pázmány Péter Catholic University (PPKE) is creating a consolidated campus. The properties belong to the Hungarian Episcopal Faculty, which maintains Pázmány. The project, which is expected to be completed by 2027, will see the renewal of several important buildings on the site behind the National Museum (such as the Esterházy Palace, which includes the former Marble Hall of the radio, or the Károlyi Palace, which is in a state of disrepair), as well as the construction of new buildings.