V.30, a Multifunctional Sports and Event Center

The Hungarian capital has several sports centers – the latest is the most unique: a new hypermodern, multifunctional sports and event center has been created in the city center that satisfies all needs. It was designed by Miklós Ybl and the Kossuth Prize winning architect, György Skardelli, a regular member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts.

As Ildikó Buranits, the Managing Director of the facility that goes by the name Vadász 30 (or V.30) with reference to the street name and number, highlights to Diplomacy&Trade, the history of the project dates back to the turn of the millennium, when the nearby Molnár Street swimming pool closed down. “Then, in 2017, 5th district mayor Péter Szentgyörgyvölgyi announced that the municipality would start to create a sports complex to meet the needs of the local population. There are gyms in the area but this sports center is unique in the country with a swimming pool, a thermal spa, indoor and outdoor gyms, an innovative Prama room, a sports hall and a multifunctional event space. Visitors holding a registered permanent address from District 5 are given discounts and all new guests are offered promotions to experience V.30. Students from kindergartens and schools in the district come to this place in the mornings for daily physical education and compulsory swimming, and return in the afternoons for swimming lessons, volleyball, handball and children's yoga. In addition, employees from office buildings in the area drop in before work from 6 a.m. to swim and use our gym, which is equipped with top-of-the-line equipment and has multilingual personal trainers at hand. Embassy staff in the area are regulars in our wellness area with thermal pool, saunas, jacuzzi, steam and infrared cabins.”

Multifunctional center
In the facility, guests can swim, recharge in our thermal pool, take a sauna, relax in the steam, or even work out and climb a wall, Ildikó Buranits explains the multifunctionality of the premises. “In our sports hall, teams of friends and companies, schoolchildren, associations can play team sports, teqball or badminton. When designing the sports concept, it was also important to ensure that the equipment and technology were unique and innovative, in keeping with the architectural significance of the building, and capable of providing a high-quality service. When equipping the floorspace of 600 square meters, we also sought to optimize the use of space, taking sustainability into account. The market-leading Technogym Biocircuit high-tech circuit training system integrates digital solutions to make it a daily workout option for even the busiest of users, providing a full-body workout in 36 minutes. We had an American film shoot where the director dreamed up a NASA gym on Mars for Train & Go. For the first time in the country, we have the latest Kinesis Station training wall, among many others, and the largest selection of Eleiko equipment, which is officially Olympic certified. In good weather, our outdoor terrace can also be the training venue. And for warming up and stretching, we have a terrace in the sports hall,” she adds.
The facility also has an event hall, a multifunctional event space, small auditoriums and even a roof terrace. The center can accommodate events for 30-150 people in its soundproofed, movable-wall function rooms attached to the ground-floor community space. The unique wooden wall cladding of the sports hall can provide a unique venue for events with organic decoration, where up to 150 guests can be seated for a round-table gala dinner, leaving space for a stage and dance floor. The light coming in through the muscle fiber walls creates a special atmosphere but the room can be completely blacked out if required and the ceiling height of over six meters offers a grandiose decorative and hanging option compared to hotel function rooms in the area with a ceiling height of just over three meters. “In good weather, you can even enjoy a cocktail on the two-story sky terrace, which is also a medium-sized wedding venue, while enjoying the view of Basilica and the atmosphere of the rooftops of Pest.

A sustainable facility
As you would expect in the 21st century, sustainability has been a key consideration in the design of the V.30 sports and events center. “Mr. Skardelli's vision of a muscular fiber wall not only made the V.30 emblematic and recognizable in every image, but also made it more operationally efficient by providing natural lighting above ground level. Our power supply is optimized by solar panels, and the famous fiberglass wall allows sunlight to reach the pools on the second floor, as it is transmitted to the pool area by means of a metal trumpet, LED lighting and a mirror. The thermal water, extracted from 806 meters using our own thermal wells, is used to heat and keep the pools warm and to heat the entire facility. We are proud that even in the coldest winter months we have never had to turn on the gas boilers, because of our constantly controlled heat management,” the Managing Director points out.

Recognized by both experts and the public
The sports and events center opened last year. On the experience gained in the first few months of feedback from visitors, the Managing Director notes that the ultramodern façade of the building is very impressive from the outset, entering the design community space and being the second highest climbing wall in Budapest, attracting the eye up to five floors above the ground. As a dog-friendly establishment, the specialty café is also a great place to sit with a four-legged friend, and as a family-friendly venue, it is also well-equipped for those with children. “At the end of 2021, we were the first swimming pool on the Pest side of the capital to be awarded a five-star rating by the Hungarian Bathing Association, and since then, we have received three Marketing Diamond Awards for our green innovation solutions, the introduction of the innovative Prama sports hall and CSR activities. In order to give our guests an insight into the diversity of our services, we offer free guided tours. We opened last September and by February, we attracted over 30,000 visitors. We are an easily accessible venue for training courses, conferences and workshops. It is a multifunctional venue for regular training sessions and sports training. For simple, low-technical events held on a regular basis, the good location and quick adaptability of the venue during changes of function (from sport to event and back) can be advantageous. As a boutique event venue, the Event Hall is the perfect location for an occasion when the client wants to entertain 80-150 guests. With cabaret seating, guests can expect first class seating and good staging for everyone, in a pleasant and natural space thanks to the wooden cladding. The infrastructure of the hall is perfectly suited to the construction of a serious stage technology. Our catering partner has a recognized professional experience in both catering and protocol events,” Ildikó Buranits concludes.