The W Budapest Hotel is directly opposite the newly renovated Opera House on Andrássy Avenue.Continue reading
One of the newest hotels on Andrássy Avenue, Hotel Oktogon, designed by interior architects Eszter Radnóczy and the team of este’r partners, has won the Tourism Design 2023 competition of the BIG SEE international architecture and design awards, making the project a candidate for the grand prize, writes Turizmus.com.
In the past months, several international magazines, including Design Street Milan, BuildNews, and ArchiPortale, have published spectacular images of Hotel Oktogon’s renovation.
Photo via Facebook/Hotel Oktogon
The story of the hotel, inaugurated in June 2022, is a true Budapest story with a twist. The Neo-Renaissance palace at 52 Andrássy Avenue was built at the end of the 19th century, between 1884 and 1886. It was designed by Henrik Schmahl, the architect of the Párisi Court (Párisi Udvar) and the Uránia National Film Theater, and built by the Swiss-born mill owner, brewery founder, and industrialist Henrik Haggenmacher.
Haggenmacher Palace before its renovation in 2016. Photo via Wikipedia
The palace later became a public library and for a time was one of Budapest’s popular entertainment venues.
After three years of renovation, the building opened as a hotel, designed by the interior design firm este’r partners and architectural partner Archikon, and run by the Continental Group.
Photo via Facebook/Hotel Oktogon
The palatial palace has been restored and renewed, retaining its original character, with the courtyard behind the representative gateway now featuring a lobby and breakfast area instead of horses and carriages, and the ceiling details of the corridors have been restored to their original beauty.
The interior design has remained more sporty and casual, in keeping with the style of the hotel’s target audience.
Photo via Facebook/Hotel Oktogon
“I am not surprised that the result is close to the taste of Italian magazines: on the one hand, for them, the turn-of-the-century architecture was very different, so this building has a lot of new features. On the other hand, the Italian culture appreciates coolness, the creative collision and harmony of the old and the new, color, life – I am certain that our work was able to add these values to the classical ones,” said Eszter Radnóczy, founder of Italian-Hungarian este’r partners.
Via turizmus.com, Featured photo via Facebook/Hotel Oktogon Haggenmacher