In the historic castle district of Budapest there are hardly any significant recent buildings, with exception of the contested Hilton Hotel, built in 1975
next to the Fisherman's Bastion. As a consequence, the castle hill has
still today a uniform baroque appearance. A pleasant exception is the
so-called
Hapimag City Residence by Péter Reimholz. The building is located next
to the northern entrance to the castle, the so-called Vienna Gate, and
offers
30 modern apartments for guests' of the city. The building does not stand out as a new construction at the first glance, since the volume, the colors
and the proportions almost merge with its surroundings. At closer
inspection, the brick façade of the Hapimag City Residence deviates
from the majority of
the neighboring buildings with their plastered façades. The design
attempts to make visible the different construction periods. According
to this intention,
the corner to Kard Utca shows an interesting mix of rough stone masonry
and brick construction. From the small side street the layers of the
construction are exposed
in the the window openings. However, the two new floors also show a
sensitive consideration of the building's history. Height and rhythm of
the windows are continued,
the game with their soffits is regarded as a special feature.