Festive moments at the MTK Sports Park under construction

Barely ten months after the first ground-breaking ceremony, the largest building of the MTK Sportpark under construction on Kerepesi Road has reached its structural completion stage. In addition to the multifunctional sports hall with a capacity of 4,900 people, outdoor courts are also being built on the 9.5-hectare site. The contractor for the project is Bayer Construct Zrt.

To mark the milestone event, a bushwalking ceremony was held on 19 April 2024 at the sports development site.
The event was attended by Secretary of State for Sport Ádám Schmidt, who in his welcome speech praised MTK's tradition- and future-oriented approach.
 

New sports centre to be created

Tamás Deutsch, President of MTK presented the figures of the project instead of quotes. He pointed out that the development work is taking place on more than 9.5 hectares, including the multifunctional sports hall. The sports area will be used by Hungarian and foreign sportsmen and women to test their skills. A 3,835 square metre training hall is also being built. The President added that almost 34,000 square metres of green space will be created on the site of the former rust belt, with the planting of 300 trees and tens of thousands of perennials and shrubs.
Tamás Deutsch made special reference to the innovative energy supply system of the sports park, which is ahead of its time. He said that 15,000 cubic metres of concrete and 1,600 tonnes of steel will be used to create a new sports centre.
 

A decade into the 21st century with the club's sporting investments

The club's president recalled that in 2014 they started a major project to provide the MTK community with 21st century sports facilities. After the football stadium and academy, the biggest investment was left to the end of the line. The Sports Park that is being built will serve the training of most MTK athletes and provide recreational sporting activities for the residents of the area.
In his closing remarks, Tamás Deutsch thanked the government for supporting the development of the country's sports infrastructure, the team managing the project and the staff of the company working on the construction.

He added: the Sports Park will provide MTK's current and future athletes with a world-class training and competition venue for at least half a century.

More than two hectares of land will be built

Construction began in the first half of 2023 by Bayer Construct Zrt. A total of 25,000 square metres of buildings will be constructed during the investment. The most important element of the Sportpark is the multifunctional hall suitable for hosting international sporting events, with a total floor area of 17,500 square metres, including covered and open areas. It will be home to the handball, volleyball, basketball, rhythmic gymnastics, fencing, chess and bridge sections of the long-established club, founded in 1888. The project also includes the construction of an above-ground covered car park, outdoor sports fields and two solar panel parks.

The hall building will be split into two 

The foundation stone for the facility was laid in June 2023. Our portal has reported on the progress of the project several times. The reinforced concrete structure of the buildings was completed in less than six months, and the contractor completed the roof structure last autumn. The divisible hall building has a floor area of approximately 14,800 square metres and is being constructed using prefabricated pillars and beams, as well as traditional monolithic construction methods.

For the largest and most complex element of the project, the roof structure of the hall, 15-tonne steel lattice girders with a span of 50 metres were installed, a rarity in Hungary and worldwide. Work will also begin soon on the hall's cladding and surfacing, the contractor said.

Sports fields inside and outside the hall

The hall will have an industrial floor with high flatness and load-bearing capacity, as it will be used as a track for a number of sports. The construction of this is under way, and the suspended ceiling, the façade windows and curtain walls are being installed in parallel. The basic mechanical and electrical installations are 90% complete.

The sports centre will also include the construction of the nearly 2,900-square-metre "G" plaza building, which will be an elevated urban space with rest areas, green spaces and parking. The outdoor courts and park maintenance facilities will be housed in a separate building.

Geothermal and solar energy are also used

Similar to the Zenit by Bayer project in Zugló, the buildings are heated by a geothermal system. To this end, the contractor's staff drilled production and reinjection wells 1,300 metres deep, where they found thermal water with a higher than expected flow rate and temperature. The next steps in the official licensing process for the wells are already underway.

Two solar parks will also help the sports centre to operate more cost-effectively.

Significant infrastructure improvements have also been made in the area, which are 95 percent complete, with only the utilities under the access road now being constructed. The MTK Sports Park is scheduled for completion in December 2024.