The second phase of the renovation of the Veszprém Castle District

The renewal of the Veszprém Castle District involves 18 buildings, around 35,000 built-up areas and 10,000 square metres of open space, and is supported by the Hungarian state. The investment of the Archdiocese of Veszprém covers the period 2020-2025. The first phase of the historic-scale renovation was completed in spring 2023, with the facades and roofs of all the buildings and the opening of several buildings to visitors last year in connection with the European Capital of Culture events.

As regards investment, the focus will return to construction work from 2024. As of February, Castle Street has again become a work area. The cobblestone pavement will be protected by asphalt pavement, as was the case when the project started in 2022, and the work area will be demarcated by the consortium of contractors. Unlike in the first phase, a large part of the street will remain open to visitors during predetermined periods (mostly weekends and evenings).

The renovation work was carried out by five companies: Fejér-B.Á.L. Zrt., LATEREX Építő Zrt., VEMÉV-SZER Kft., the SWIETELSKY Magyarország Kft. and B & G Generál Kft..

Ten thousand square metres of facades renovated

In the first year of the renewal, which started in March 2022, Fejér-B.Á.L. Zrt. has made spectacular progress in renovating 12 of its buildings, most of which are listed. In the first phase, more than 10,000 square metres of façades, around 5,000 square metres of roofing and 500 façade windows and doors were renovated. In addition, the main works were restoration (wood, metal, stone, painting), internal demolition, structural works and waterproofing of the walls.

The elements of the project on Castle Street will be carried out by the company independently or in consortium, as follows:

Commissioned by the Castellum Asset Management Directorate, belonging to the Archdiocese of Veszprém as the investor, in a consortium with SWIETELSKY Magyarország Kft.

• the Bíró-Giczey House (completed by spring 2023),
• St Stephen's Church (Franciscan church),
• the Franciscan Order House,
• the renovation of the Tejfalusy House.

In consortium with B&G General Kft.

• the Minor Seminary,
• the Canon House,
• the Simon House,
• the Church of St Imre (Piarist church) and
• the renewal of the Piarist convent and high school.

The renovation of the façade of the St. Michael's Main Parish was carried out independently by Fejér-B.Á.L. Zrt., while the City of Veszprém County Council commissioned the renovation of the Castle Dungeon to be carried out jointly with VEMÉV-SZER Kft..

Renewal of all buildings in synchrony

The whole project is currently at the halfway stage. The second phase, which started in February, will focus on the internal works. For the Fejér-B.Á.L. Zrt. and its consortium partner, these are the construction of the substructure, the heavy and light current and building services engineering works, as well as the surface finishes, cold and hot cladding and restoration works," Ferenc Lemli, chief engineer, told us.

As he said, the uniqueness of the Castle Street project lies in its complexity. "If you look at our work, we are talking about the renewal of 12 buildings - which require a lot of professional work and preparation - and the centre of Veszprém is a special location, a dead end, with a very limited organisational area. The works will be carried out in parallel and synchronously, and the same area will be used by the co-contractors and consortium members."

In addition to these, the Biró-Giczey House and the St Michael's Main Parish façade renovation were also faced with tight deadlines, but both buildings were successfully handed over in spring 2023.

Brilliant design, with unique solutions

The project leader highlighted several subtasks that will continue to receive particular attention.

An example is the conversion of the roof of the Tejfalussy House, which has many Baroque features. The wing of the building facing the Castle Street was protected by a canopy designed specifically for this section of the work. This prevented damage to one of the oldest parts of the building in the area, as well as to the Baroque elements and wall paintings in the interior spaces.

In addition to the large number of restoration tasks, several buildings also require significant structural reinforcement and reconstruction, due to the ageing of certain building elements, the construction of the trail and the requirements and demands of the 21st century.

Work on the first phase was carried out under continuous archaeological supervision, and a large number of archaeological finds and special features were discovered. These include Bronze Age skeletons, gold and silver coins from the 11th century onwards, weapons and ammunition from World War I and II, medieval wall sections of the Veszprém Castle were found in several places, and medieval and early modern burials were also excavated.

Several cases of unexpected wall paintings were identified inside the buildings that were previously unknown. They were found in the Archbishop's Palace, the Minor Seminary and the Körmendy House.

The project leader concluded by highlighting the close cooperation with the clients and consortium partners, and the work of the team of around 20 engineers, which is an essential condition for the successful and high quality implementation of the project elements by the contractors.