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House and Beeyard

Selected in Architectural design

The project is located in the Balaton Uplands, a landscape characterised by rural houses built from local stone. The site originally contained a deteriorated stone house and two small outbuildings, one of which served for storing beehives. The architect-owner intended to renovate the existing structures, however, structural investigations revealed that the weakened masonry could not support the required loads. Rather than replicate the buildings, the project reinterprets them as a contemporary ensemble while preserving the original footprint, proportions, and spatial arrangement. Material reuse became a central design strategy. Stones from the demolished house were salvaged and incorporated into the walls of the new buildings. The structures were built using a traditional rammed concrete technique in which a custom concrete mix was poured into formwork while embedding the reclaimed stones together with basalt aggregate from a nearby quarry. The external walls were stripped of their formwork and bush-hammered, exposing the basalt aggregate and the embedded stones on the surface. The same basalt aggregate appears in the terrazzo flooring, creating a continuous material language. The ensemble consists of the main house and the Beeyard, recalling the layout of the former farmstead. Inside, the ceiling of the open living space and the built-in furniture are made from spruce plywood panels. The roof is finished with traditional wooden singles.

Participant category: Small company (< 10 employees)

Company name: OKKA architects

Country: Hungary

Location: Balatonhenye

Client: Péter Szabó

Team: Péter Szabó DLA, Emese Galamb

Edition: 2026

Project status: Realised

Website: https://okka.hu/

Photo credits: Balázs Danyi
Photo credits: Balázs Danyi
Photo credits: Balázs Danyi
Photo credits: Balázs Danyi
Photo credits: Balázs Danyi
Photo credits: Balázs Danyi