Description:

Evaluation

Géza Kendik Kendik was commissioned to design the new Debrecen store after several years of joint work and designing an ALDI store. The retail chain has acquired a unique building, also outstanding in its own way, typical of its era, at an important intersection of the Vénkerti residential area in the northwestern part of the city. The Debrecen Domus opened in 1980 as a modern, new-look furniture store to serve the housing estate and the city built in the 1970s, representing the commercial trend that had started at the beginning of the decade. Founded in 1949 as the successor to the Bútorértékesítő Vállalat, Domus offered modern, mainly highly variable, modular furniture for the newer, mainly prefabricated apartments. The national network, which expanded to 16 stores in a few years from 1974, was each one of a kind, built to the high standards of its time by local architects, taking into account the context but also the commercial policy.

Support structure

It is an exciting task to transform an existing building to meet the needs of the current age, also from a structural point of view. Unfortunately, there is often a lack of data at the drawing board, as not all details can be explored, original design materials are not available and previous alterations are not documented. We overcame these challenges on this project too, however, the hard-managed project was able to come to fruition and a former iconic building was transformed into a new, perhaps iconic building again. The original structural system of the building was a combination of precast reinforced concrete and steel, which in some places required more work than was possible before construction began due to the structural limitations of the structure. However, the end result made up for the difficulties!