BORD Architectural Studio designed the first high-end office building in Debrecen, Hungary. Our vision was to create an exclusive industrial product with an interior designed like computers with their complex network of printed circuit boards and microchips encased into a unique, futuristic glazed box.

The building is situated in the city right next to Nagyerdo and the University Campus. Though the location is perfect, it is very near a residential area and is also surrounded by public buildings. Our foremost aim was therefore to define the right scale and volume and protect the intimacy of the residential buildings. Bearing in mind its size and the environment, we divided the building into three volumes, which are connected to each other by corridor links. The height of the office wings and the number of floors are adjusted to the measures of the surrounding buildings: ground floor plus 3-4-5 floors. The facade is open from the front and closed from the direction of the residential area.

We created an intensive green belt on the edge of the property line preserving the older trees and offering further protection for the people of the neighbourhood.

The direction of arrival is from Tuzer Street. There are parking spaces right in front of and underneath the building, in the underground garage. The entrance is situated in the zone that link the blocks together. An elegant lobby, and a spacious restaurant and café will serve the needs of the office workers. Each wing has its own staircase and servicing areas but the wings are permeable on all floors as well. On the higher floors there is a circa 20.000m2 flexible office space.

The functionally constructed shell is decorated with zigzagging motifs that percolate the entire, transparently layered volume from the outermost cover to the innermost frame of the building.

The architectural concept was inspired by the indispensable symbol of our modern world: the computer. Inside a computer there are microchips and circuits that function like a professionally designed engine. The outside is a result of industrial design, on which the different switches, slabs and indicators of a product appear in unison representing a brand. This is exactly why the inside concept of our building is highly comfortable, environmentally conscious, energy efficient and sustainable solution. This unique product is packed in a perfectly designed box.

Forest Offices Debrecen is the first among the rural office buildings to get the environmentally committed LEED Gold certification.

The unique combination of the structure, the facade and the design provide a perfect heat protection to the building supporting its energy efficiency. The inclined glass panels of the eastern and western facade protect the building from the direct heat load and supply an abundance of natural light towards the interior increasing its level of wellbeing. The main facade of the building is the south facade, the design of which is also supporting the protection against heat load. The necessary stiffening walls were grouped on the southern facade and punched openings were formed in them. There are uniquely designed glass shields in front of these V shaped inwrought walls. The character of the side facades is ruled by inclined planes that also appear on the front facade in these V shapes creating an iconic appearance.

Project info

  • Project Name Forest Offices Debrecen
  • Location Debrecen, Hungary
  • Gross Area 34 800 m2
  • Completion 2018
  • Client Forest Offices Debrecen Ltd.
  • General Design BORD Architectural Studio
  • Head Architect Péter Bordás
  • Coordinating Architect Eszter É. Vágvölgyi
  • Architect Team Melinda Ágota Angi, Róbert Benke, Noémi Gyárfás, Róbert Gulyás, Tamás Mezey, Tamás Tolvaj, Kata Zih, Réka Zsólyomi
  • Mechanical Engineering BORD Architectural Studio - Zoltán Hollókövi
  • Structural Engineering Hydrastat Mérnöki Iroda - Zsigmond Dezső
  • Photographer György Palkó