The half-century-old university building near Budapest leaps into the 21st century after modernisation

According to the announcement published in the EU Public Procurement Bulletin, during the renovation of the interior of the auditorium, the contractor, Épkar Zrt. will have to modernise the building's mechanical systems and its high- and low-voltage networks, and the specialists will also have other interior design tasks to complete.  

A building built during the socialist era is being modernised

Agricultural higher education in Hungary has a history of almost two hundred years. An independent agricultural university was founded only after the Second World War, and an institution in Budapest brought together the faculties of veterinary medicine, forestry, viticulture, engineering and horticulture in five cities of the country. The conditions for practical training were established in Gödöllő after the nationalisation of the Premonstratensian order in 1950. Construction work for the university began the following year and continued at varying intensity until 1970.

The building, which now includes the lobby, was completed in 1969. The core of the building is the auditorium, which is surrounded by departmental offices. During the modernisation, most of the internal layout of the building will be retained, with minimal demolition and alterations to the six tea kitchens on each floor.

Modern and safe enclosures for laboratories

In the building, which is used for educational and administrative purposes, in addition to the central square and the lobby, the office spaces will also be renewed, with new coffered ceilings over some 1,700 square metres, while damaged or missing elements in the walkways will be replaced with custom-designed elements. The pvc paving of the corridors will be replaced by stone paving, and where necessary the concrete subfloor will be replaced and insulated.

As part of the project, the building:

• 12,600 square metres of plaster will be repaired,
• eighteen thousand square metres of walls are painted.
• Over a thousand square metres of laboratories and wet rooms will be tiled. The former will be covered with acid and alkali-resistant, non-slip granite tiles, in line with their function.

The red marble floor of Tardos will also be renewed

In the lobby, the suspended ceiling will be replaced, with new insulation underneath and new electrical cables installed. The more than 1,000 square metres of red marble flooring in the lobby in Tardos will be polished and refinished.

The entrance will be modernised by installing six automatic sliding double doors to facilitate access to and from the building, and the entire camera system in the lobby will be replaced. In addition, an audiovisual system will be installed in the building, which will not only include a sound system and a barrier-free system for the deaf and hard of hearing, but will also be able to be used as an interpretation system. The development will also include the creation of a video streaming facility in the building and the installation of a system for the integrated control of the above functions. Six air conditioning systems will also be installed in different rooms of the building, and lighting will be provided by energy-saving LED technology.

The renovation and conversion of the 8300 square metre auditorium will cost HUF 1.3 billion.