During the refurbishment, special attention was paid to preserving the typical Hungarian architecture of the 1970s. The entire camp area is accessible, with signposts with a unique infographic design to help you find your way around.
The Zánkai camp, which has been operating since 1972, has provided camping for nearly 3,000 children every year. This decades-long history was completed in 2019 with a major renovation and modernisation. The original complex was a fully autonomous town: it had its own post office, a port on Lake Balaton, a library, a camp museum, offices with various administrative and service functions, a hairdressing salon and a railway station, a water tower and a sewage treatment plant.
The renovated camp reopened its doors to children in the summer of 2021 at Camp Elisabeth. The “Erzsébet-táborok” (the other camp is located in Fonyódliget) is Hungary’s largest camping programme for Hungarian-speaking children living beyond the border. The Zánkai camp can accommodate 3,350 campers and 300 staff.
During the refurbishment, special attention was paid to preserving the typical Hungarian architecture of the 1970s, which can be seen, for example, in the buildings around the Forum and in the buildings serving the children and staff. The entire camp area is accessible, with signposts with a unique infographic design to help you find your way around. The redevelopment has created a new Multifunctional Sports and Events Hall with cafeterias, a Health Centre, community spaces and a restaurant, as well as winter and summer accommodation. The athletics stadium and outdoor sports fields, the harbour, the camp radio, changing rooms and water blocks on the beach area have also been renovated.
Some of the buildings have been built to the standards of the BREEAM international sustainability rating system. The main criteria for certification include the visual relationship of the building with the surrounding natural environment, accessibility, natural ventilation, user-friendly installation of bicycle storage, energy-efficient mechanical and electrical installations, selective waste collection, acoustically optimised spaces, shading, etc. All in all, a facility with lower running costs and more environmentally sustainable operation has been delivered.
BREEAM
61.000 sqm
Media Architecture Award 2021 Special Award for Major Investments – Architect Forum Budapest
