Paris Court (Párisi Udvar)

Street entrance of Paris Court on Ferenciek tere in Budapest, a tall glazed archway between carved brick piers revealing the golden glass vaults of the restored arcade, with a glass canopy over the Párisi Udvar doors
Location: Budapest, HungaryType: HotelYear: 2019Architect: Archikon Architects + KROKI StudioPhotographer: Tamás Bujnovszky, Bálint Jaksa
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Paris Court (Párisi Udvar) by Archikon Architects and KROKI Studio in Budapest

Paris Court, known in Hungarian as the Párisi Udvar, is a landmark arcade building in the centre of Budapest, restored and converted into a five-star hotel by the Budapest practices Archikon Architects and KROKI Studio, and completed in 2019. Archikon led the architecture, restoration and construction work, while KROKI designed the interiors. Behind one of the most richly decorated façades in Europe, the long-neglected passage has been brought back into public use as the lobby, café and restaurant of the Párisi Udvar Hotel Budapest, part of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, with 108 rooms and suites on the floors above.

Twin turreted towers and the carved, floodlit crest of the Paris Court façade at dusk, ornate pinnacles, a round medallion and a row of arched windows set against a deep blue sky

From the Brudern House to Henrik Schmahl’s arcade

A passage has stood on the site, on Ferenciek tere, since 1817, when the neoclassical Brudern House was built with a glass-roofed shopping arcade, probably modelled on the covered passages of Paris. Between 1909 and 1913 it was rebuilt for the Downtown Savings Bank (Belvárosi Takarékpénztár) to designs by the architect Henrik Schmahl, with bank offices and apartments above a new arcade. Schmahl drew on Art Nouveau, Moorish, Arabic and Neo-Gothic sources, filling the building with carved timber, wrought metal, stained glass and glazed ceramics, and creating one of the largest ceramic-clad buildings in Europe, crowned by turrets, pinnacles and tiled roofs.

Looking up into a glass dome of the Paris Court arcade, a star-shaped pattern of dark ribs and pale leaded glass radiating around clustered crystal chandeliers

Decline and a four-and-a-half-year restoration

The building survived both world wars, but its façade was damaged during the 1956 revolution, and a 1960s renovation coated the steel framework of the arcade roof in cement, which made it rust. By the 2010s the dim passage was best known as a backdrop for spy films such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Mellow Mood Hotels took over the property in 2014 and work began in 2015. Over four and a half years, the early reinforced concrete foundations were strengthened without changing the look of the building, and the rusted steel was replaced while the fragile glass panels were kept.

Hotel lounge in the restored Paris Court passage, armchairs and a potted tree at the foot of soaring carved arches, with a glass barrel vault and an ornate rose-patterned lunette beyond

Zsolnay ceramics and glass domes

Archikon restored the street façade and its ornament, the glazing of the arcade, the ornate double staircase, the three-way main staircase and the glazed ceramic roof. Of the roughly 250,000 ceramic pieces on the building, from small tiles to dragon heads, nearly a quarter were remade by the Zsolnay factory that produced the originals, and more than a hundred original Zsolnay pieces were found hidden in an inaccessible part of the building. One of the glass domes is lined with stained glass panels by the Hungarian master Miksa Róth; the other, made of Luxfer prism tiles once blackened with dirt, glows again.

Vertical view of a Paris Court dome, ribbed panels of milky glass between bands of gilded ornament, with a filigreed Moorish arch and a further glass vault below

A covered courtyard and a new rooftop floor

New interventions were kept distinct from the historic fabric. Archikon covered an inner courtyard with a roof of geometric glass panels and a crystal skylight, creating a high-ceilinged lounge, and designed a protective case over the glass dome that lets visitors look down into the passage from above. A new floor was added on top of the building for a presidential suite, with a rooftop terrace that looks out over the city and across the building’s own ceramic roofs and towers. Shops were kept on the street-facing ground and mezzanine floors.

Courtyard lounge of the Párisi Udvar Hotel under a glass roof, white walls with rows of arched windows rising above green velvet armchairs, round tables, plants and a bar

KROKI Studio’s rooms and suites

KROKI Studio, based a short walk away, designed the hotel interiors, from the reception desk in the passage, which mirrors the old tiles, to the rooms and suites in the former apartments above. Where the arcade is dark and opulent, the rooms are deliberately brighter and simpler, conceived like the pearls inside a jewellery box. Hexagonal motifs, the soft greens of Zsolnay ceramics and a palette of marble, walnut, leather and brass tie them to the decorative arts of the building. Lead designers András Göde and Balázs Kéry describe the aim as “a contemporary version of the Arabian Nights” that the original designers had envisioned.

Suite at the Párisi Udvar Hotel with a pale grey sofa and dark oval coffee table on a cream rug, a chandelier of glass globes and glazed partitions opening to a bedroom on each side

Team and credits

The Archikon team was led by Csaba Nagy and Károly Pólus with Krisztina T. Major, Ádám Pásztor and Miklós Batta, and KROKI’s by Balázs Kéry and András Göde. Market Építő was the main contractor, Netti Czóbel designed the textiles, and Henry Chebaane of Sky Hospitality designed the food and beverage spaces. The hotel covers about 12,500 square metres and opened in the summer of 2019. As Pólus put it, “the reconstruction lasted longer than building the original building”. The photography is by Tamás Bujnovszky and Bálint Jaksa.

Paris Court (Párisi Udvar) gallery

Street entrance of Paris Court on Ferenciek tere in Budapest, a tall glazed archway between carved brick piers revealing the golden glass vaults of the restored arcade, with a glass canopy over the Párisi Udvar doorsLong view down the restored Párisi Udvar passage, a patterned mosaic floor leading beneath tiers of carved dark timber and glowing glass barrel vaults, with potted palms and lamps along the wayTwin turreted towers and the carved, floodlit crest of the Paris Court façade at dusk, ornate pinnacles, a round medallion and a row of arched windows set against a deep blue skyFull street front of the Párisi Udvar on Ferenciek tere at dusk, its long eclectic façade lit floor by floor above the shopfronts, with corner turrets and light trails on the roadLooking up into a glass dome of the Paris Court arcade, a star-shaped pattern of dark ribs and pale leaded glass radiating around clustered crystal chandeliersGreat semicircular stained glass window in the Paris Court arcade, Neo-Gothic tracery of rosettes and trefoils framed by a deep carved timber arch beneath the glazed vaultHotel lounge in the restored Paris Court passage, armchairs and a potted tree at the foot of soaring carved arches, with a glass barrel vault and an ornate rose-patterned lunette beyondRichly carved timber arcading and pierced tracery around the upper galleries of the Párisi Udvar, rising to luminous glass vaults and a succession of ornamented archesVertical view of a Paris Court dome, ribbed panels of milky glass between bands of gilded ornament, with a filigreed Moorish arch and a further glass vault belowWide view from an upper level of the Párisi Udvar, crystal chandeliers hanging from a dome of glass and gilded ribs above carved galleries, a glazed street entrance and a lobby lounge on a patterned floorCourtyard lounge of the Párisi Udvar Hotel under a glass roof, white walls with rows of arched windows rising above green velvet armchairs, round tables, plants and a barRooftop terrace on the new top floor of the Párisi Udvar at dusk, grey sofas and a timber deck along a glazed wall, looking out to the turrets and spires of Budapest under a cloudy blue skySuite at the Párisi Udvar Hotel with a pale grey sofa and dark oval coffee table on a cream rug, a chandelier of glass globes and glazed partitions opening to a bedroom on each sideGuest room with two white beds against a tall quilted grey headboard, dark benches at their feet, a grey armchair by curtained windows and a herringbone timber floorMarble bathroom with a dark vanity and stone basin, a walk-in glass shower and a bathtub beyond a glass screen, with a gold mosaic panel beside the mirrorGround level of the Paris Court arcade set with white armchairs and low tables beneath the glass dome, carved dark timber galleries and stained glass windows on three sidesClose view of carved Neo-Gothic tracery and timber columns in the Párisi Udvar, framing a panel of patterned leaded glass and a glimpse of the vaulted roofView from a stairwell with a black glass balustrade into the Paris Court arcade, a carved stained glass arch, a hanging lantern and a blue-lit gallery panel

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