At Szervita Square, in Budapest where the former Downtown Telephone Exchange Center was located, Biggeorge Property envisioned Emerald Residence, a residential building and boutique hotel which forms an architectural unit with St. Anne’s Church and offers one of the city’s most valuable properties. Eszter Radnóczy and este’r partners studio, whose portfolio includes interior design work on two high-profile developments at Andrássy Avenue, the A3 and A52 hotels, is responsible for the interior design concept.
“Emerald brand represents the highest quality, so our interior design team created a matching design plan. The result is an interior with elegant, precious materials and unique designs, taking into consideration the beautiful meeting of the old and the new and the heritage of the historic downtown location – says Eszter Radnóczy, chief designer. In Emerald, we created a cosmopolitan, yet high-quality, soft and slightly exotic interior for an otherwise modern building.”
The interior design team of este’r partners has led the iconic forest green color through the interior of the Emerald: in combination with geometrically fractured claddings and surfaces, it gives the interior a jewel-like elegance. Forest green velvets meet champagne colors, metals and glittering marbles with many veins, this is interrupted by the use of the natural walnut and playful mirrors.
The heart of the project is the breathtaking yet functional spatial design: this is the sunken island of the lobby, the level shifts at the restaurant, the connection of the lobby and the garden adjacent to the church. In addition to the exciting spatial relations, the use of precious materials, the velvet walls as well as the custom-designed furniture and space elements create the harmony of the building.
Csilla Szabó, project leader architect said: “When designing Emerald, the most exciting professional challenge for me was the space. Situated right next to the Szervita Square church, the building does not only offers an outstanding location but also close architectural connection. Guests can also enjoy an unusually impressive view from the courtyard rooms – it can be an incomparable experience combined with interior design solutions and high quality service. ”
Some interesting facts about the project:
*The building used to serve as the home of the Downtown Telephone Exchange Center which was built in the 1970s, on the grounds of the former Servite monastery that was an additional building of St. Anne’s Church. An important basic concept of the investment is to revive the historical relationship between the buildings with architectural solutions, through the glass wall on the facade looking over Szervita Square.
*With the completion of the building the environment of the church will be renewed as well. Thanks to its inner passage the complex will be open for pedestrians both from the directions of Szervita Square and Városház Street, making it possible to take a walk around St. Anne’s Church.
*The location of Emerald Residence is unique and its solutions are modern: the residential building and the hotel section has reception and concierge and the Residence has its own restaurant and bar.
*The este’r partner team has worked with high-profile brands to match the building: Dutch Walltextile velvet textile wallpapers, Erba Italia’s characteristic furniture, for example the Virgola armchair, have been designed for the interiors, complemented by quite special solutions such as Kriska’s decorative chain curtains in the restaurant.
*According to the calculations of Portfolio made in December 2017, Emerald Residence showed the highest price per square meter in Budapest: the record-breaker penthouse cost nearly 3 million HUF per square meter.