Room for impro­ve­ment

More than 500 children attend the Bajza Utcai Általános Iskola every day in Budapest’s densely built-up 6th district. For a long time, however, the schoo­lyard offered only one solu­tion to a wide range of needs: a large, synthetic-surfaced sports area between the school buil­ding and the swim­ming pool. Those who wanted to play ball or run had plenty of space. However, there were hardly any oppor­tu­ni­ties for free play, conver­sa­tion, quiet time, expe­ri­en­cing nature, or outdoor lessons.

The starting point for the Vertical Play­garden was ther­e­fore less about reno­vating the exis­ting sports complex and more about expan­ding it. The central area was to remain available for sports and physical acti­vity. Instead, Studio KRAFT sought out space where, at first glance, there seemed to be none.

It was found between the sports complex and the swim­ming pool: a service area just six meters wide, housing tech­nical faci­li­ties and provi­ding access to the heating system. Since expan­ding the property was out of the ques­tion, as was buil­ding on the sports field, the idea of a vertical expan­sion emerged from this narrow strip of land.

The story behind the Vertical Play­garden is unusually personal. Archi­tect Ádám Pásztor (Studio KRAFT) was fami­liar with the school as the father of two students; his wife had also attended it. Along­side many posi­tive things about the school, he repea­tedly encoun­tered criti­cism of the undif­fe­ren­tiated schoo­lyard. Children who didn’t want to run around or play ball all the time, in parti­cular, often stayed on the side­lines or didn’t spend their recesses outside at all.

In 2019, the first sket­ches for an expan­sion along the swim­ming pool were drawn up, with support from the school admi­nis­tra­tion and the district. The muni­ci­pa­lity funded the plan­ning and approved the project.

The Vertical Play­garden covers just 215 m² of floor space.

Small, elevated wooden houses form the central theme. They are situated at diffe­rent heights and are connected by stairs, bridges, nets, clim­bing struc­tures, and a rope tunnel. Round openings, varying ceiling heights, and areas offe­ring diffe­rent levels of shelter create a sequence of open and secluded spaces. A tube tele­phone even allows children on the upper levels to commu­ni­cate with those on the ground.

The archi­tects deli­bera­tely draw inspi­ra­tion from a tree­house rather than the typical typo­logy of play­ground equip­ment. It is precisely this that creates the impres­sion of a small archi­tec­tural struc­ture within the schoo­lyard. The axono­me­tric projec­tion illus­trates this very clearly: starting from the lively entrance area, the struc­ture rises gradu­ally along the property line and culmi­nates in a quieter, covered communal and lear­ning area.

Verti­cality is not merely a formal gimmick here. It multi­plies the usable levels of a narrow strip of land that offered virtually no poten­tial for deve­lo­p­ment in terms of floor area. At the same time, the large sports field remains largely untouched.

A parti­cular design chall­enge lay in striking a balance between privacy and super­vi­sion. The children should have spaces that truly feel like little nooks and hiding places. At the same time, educa­tors must be able to keep an eye on the play area.

The solu­tion is a conti­nuous pathway running along the play­houses. From there and from the sports court, the various levels remain largely visible, while walls, nets, and changes in eleva­tion create protected areas at the children’s eye level. The entire struc­ture was desi­gned as a custom play struc­ture, tested in accordance with the rele­vant safety requi­re­ments, and ulti­m­ately TÜV-certi­fied.

This also expands the range of acti­vi­ties offered. The Play­garden isn’t just for recess and after-school care. A raised, covered area serves as an outdoor class­room and common area; the faci­lity is also used for vaca­tion and summer programs.

In terms of mate­rials as well, the project deli­bera­tely sets itself apart from a stan­dar­dized play­ground. The struc­ture consists prima­rily of larch and okoumé wood, supple­mented by painted steel compon­ents and reusable profiled sheet metal for the roof. Steel grating serves as fall protec­tion and peri­meter fencing.

These trel­lises are also intended to become part of the gree­ning. Ivy and wild grape­vine climb up the struc­ture; potting mix was added wherever space permitted. The exis­ting tree was inte­grated into the design. The wood-and-steel struc­ture, which was initi­ally clearly visible, is thus gradu­ally being trans­formed into a green arbor in the midst of Budapest’s dense urban fabric.

The limited life­span was also taken into account from the very begin­ning. Studio KRAFT speci­fies a planned life­span of 15 to 20 years for the struc­ture. Compon­ents and mate­rials have ther­e­fore been selected so that they can be reused or recy­cled after the struc­ture is even­tually dismantled. Another factor is the possi­bi­lity that the inte­rior of the block will undergo a more exten­sive rede­sign in the long term.