K&H Bank Branch at Oktogon

The project

The branch sits in the World Heritage zone of central Budapest. LAB5 cleared the spaces for a flexible plan and left exposed the traces of different periods: concrete, riveted steel beams, brick vaults and the original plaster ornaments of the Abbázia Kávéház.

Closed offices are wrapped in semicircular expanded metal sheets that read like curtains in a public hall. Planting is built into the structure, as it was 150 years ago, and concrete core samples from the demolition are now polished and used as vases. The facade was restored so the corners of the square match again.