2020-11-30

Budapest’s monumental Gyarmati Dezső swimming pool features systems by ALUPROF

The Gyarmati Dezső Uszoda, or swimming pool, one of Budapest’s newest and most important sports facilities, was handed over last autumn. The building is distinctive for its monumental form and the simplicity of its dark grey façade. Two companies were responsible for the design, Plant – Atelier Peter Kis, and Tecton Architect and Consulting. Systems by ALUPROF S.A., a European supplier of high-quality aluminium solutions for the construction industry, were used to help turn their vision into reality.

A new take on the classical

Since the mid nineteen nineties, designers have been turning to historised motifs, particular with architecture for public spaces. For the Gyarmati Dezső Uszoda, the two architectural companies evoked classical architecture and adapted it to current trends, a union which reflects the very best in contemporary design.

The facility features a highly distinctive, graphite elevation which is a combination of simple forms. The façade brings to mind a series of Doric columns, but in a fresh, modern version. This is achieved by the use of ‘pleats’, which endow an overall lightness and finesse. The hefty proportions, severity and monumentalism of the classic order is broken by the arched roof sweeping over the main entrance. Its shape alludes to the famous Diocletian Baths, which had barrel vaulting.

What makes the Gyarmati Dezső unique is the deft combination of artistic qualities and aesthetics, on the one hand and functionality on the other. The building houses two large pools, seating for a thousand spectators, a café and a gym. The main, non-wave pool is built to competition standards. It measures 51.5 x 25 metres, is 2 metres, 20 centimetres deep and has ten lanes. The requirements for broadcasting sporting events on television were born in mind in the design, meaning that the pool can be used for international championships. The second pool was designed for training. It measures 20 x 10 metres and is 1 metre, 20 centimetres deep. One of its purposes is to provide swimming lessons for the children and young people of the local schools. Just beyond the line of the elevation, to the south, is an undoubted attraction in the form of an open-air pool. Measuring 21 x 33.3 metres, with a depth of 2 metres, it provides the right conditions for water polo matches.

No compromises

The glazing for the Gyarmati Dezső Uszoda was created using solutions by ALUPROF S.A., a company with a portfolio of projects from all over the world.

The systems in question have excellent insulation parameters, which play a vital part in buildings of this kind. The elevation was built using the company’s MB-SR50N HI mullion and transom curtain wall system, which provides increased thermal insulation. The ALUPROF MB-86 window and door system was also used. In addition to its excellent insulating properties, it features highly durable profiles, making it possible to build heavy, large-scale structures.

Anna Dziunycz, Director General of ALUPROF Hungary, provides some more detail:

The MB-86 system is one of Aluprof’s responses not only to the trend for sustainability in the construction industry, but also to the latest on the design front. The width of the window frames on the outside is negligible, which maximises the glazed area and the amount of light streaming through it. The high durability of the profiles makes it possible to build large scale, heavyweight structures that lend an impression of slenderness and lightness to the panoramic glazing, for instance, giving a sense of unbounded space.

In the foyer, the massive glass wall looking onto the main pool is another noteworthy feature. The glazing was created using the ALUPROF MB-45 system, which is ideally suited to the construction of internal architectural structures such as dividing partitions and guarantees user safety.