The colours of tradition

The Szent Gellért Catholic School in Budapest is one of the city’s historic institutions. Founded almost a century ago, it recently underwent an extensive remodelling project that has restored it to its former glory while combining a sense of history with the needs of contemporary education.
This complex renovation unearthed artefacts from the Second World War and even the Ottoman era and had to resolve major structural issues and disputes over property boundaries.

The interior design project by Csilla Kutlik from Budapest-based firm Árkád-Terv uses colour as the primary tool for restoring the spirit and sense of tradition of the original building. Her unusual and skilful project made extensive use of ceramic tiles and won first place in the Public Buildings category of Casalgrande Padana’s 12th Grand Prix international architecture competition. The jury issued the following statement: “Part of a project for the renovation of a historical building, the new flooring, composed of pastel-coloured tiles, emerges from the white and neutral background of the interiors to take on a key role. The new take on the laying design dictated by the attention paid to the original pattern combines with the contemporary approach to slot seamlessly and attractively into a construction from the past. The coloured flooring indicates the various pathways, acting as a design element that teaches the children to appreciate beauty.”
Large sections of the original nineteenth-century flooring were discovered in the basement during the renovation work and gave Csilla Kutlik the inspiration to create the colour scheme that forms the heart of the project. The ceramic carpet was created from a combination of different coloured 20×20 cm size porcelain tiles from Casalgrande Padana’s Unicolore collection, specifically Giallo Ocra (ochre yellow), Grigio Cenere (ash grey), Grigio Perla (pearl grey), Rosso Mattone (brick red) and Verde (green).
These cheerful colours are echoed on the walls, furniture and cupboards, giving a dynamic, playful feel to the spaces used by the children. The ceramic tiles laid out in a chequerboard pattern also play an important compositional role, dividing up the different areas while maintaining the continuity of the surface.
The renovation project also involved construction of a new three-storey wing, the refurbishment of the gym and changing rooms, and the creation of a large kitchen and dining room. The energy retrofit included installing thermal insulation on the façade and roof, replacing the windows and doors, and fitting new radiators with thermostatic valves.