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Bajza Vertical Playgarden
Bajza Vertical Playgarden
Budapest, Hungary
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Other Projects by Studio Kraft
Bajza Vertical Playgarden
Budapest, Hungary
Firm
Type
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2025
SIZE
0 sqft - 1000 sqft
BUDGET
Undisclosed
The Vertical Playgarden — Bajza Street Primary School, Budapest
Urban condition
The Vertical Playgarden was built in the courtyard of the Bajza Street Primary School in Budapest’s 6th district, one of the densest inner-city areas of the Hungarian capital. More than 500 children use the school every day, yet the courtyard had long functioned as a mono-functional sports field: a rubber-covered surface enclosed by school buildings and a swimming hall, offering little opportunity for retreat, free play, nature or differentiated use.
The project began in 2019. Architect Ádám Pásztor — co-founder of Studio Kraft — experienced the courtyard not only as a designer, but also as a parent of two local students. Looking for solution, the only available area was a narrow six-meter-wide service zone between the sports yard and the swimming hall — an unlikely place for a meaningful spatial intervention. What first appeared to be an unrealistic idea gradually became a shared project involving the school leadership, the Municipality of Terézváros, teachers, parents, designers, engineers and the architects of Studio Kraft.
Differentiated space for children
The project was based on a simple premise: children are fundamentally different from one another. Their spatial needs vary according to age, personality, sensory sensitivity, social behavior and neurological development. Traditional early 20th-century school buildings and courtyards rarely accommodate this diversity. The project proposes a child-centered spatial environment that supports movement, retreat, observation, informal gathering, free play and outdoor learning simultaneously.
Vertical strategy
The project transforms the narrow leftover strip beside the sports yard into a vertically layered play landscape. Small timber “treehouses” standing on stilts are positioned at different heights and connected through stairs, nets, rope tunnels and bridges.
The vertical organization was not a formal gesture but a spatial necessity. In a dense urban environment where no additional land could be created, the project adds usable space through layering rather than expansion.
The atmosphere intentionally recalls improvised treehouses and garden structures instead of standardized playground equipment letting the children imagination work. Different heights, scales and levels of enclosure create a wide range of situations for children with different temperaments and needs: active play, solitude, observation, conversation or collective activities.
At the same time, the system remains visually transparent. From the circulation route running along the structure, teachers maintain clear oversight while children still experience moments of intimacy and retreat.
The playgarden is used not only during school breaks but also for outdoor classes, after-school activities and summer camps, and it increasingly functions as part of the district’s shared social infrastructure.
Materiality and sustainability
Environmental education and direct sensory experience were central aspects of the project. In a highly built inner-city environment, it was important that children encounter natural materials, vegetation and seasonal change in their everyday life.
The structure primarily uses larch and okoume timber combined with painted steel elements and reusable profiled metal roofing. Climbing plants were integrated wherever possible, with the intention that the protective steel mesh surfaces gradually become overgrown and transform into a green inner-city arbor.
Since a more complete transformation of the city block interior can happen in the future, the components were designed with reuse and recyclability in mind. The project aims to demonstrate that even temporary or lightweight urban interventions can create long-term environmental and social value.
Community realization
The project was realized through close collaboration. The design process included questionnaires for teachers, workshops with educators and a children’s drawing competition titled Your Dream School Courtyard, organized during the Covid pandemic. While teachers emphasized transparency, safety and the possibility of outdoor classes, children consistently expressed a desire for hiding places, climbing structures, greenery, smaller social spaces and playful vertical movement. These needs directly shaped the final concept and also strengthened the community.
The openness of the school leadership and the commitment of the district made it possible to transform an overlooked residual space into a meaningful environment for children and local families.
Completed in 2025, the Vertical Playgarden is not simply a playground addition. While the project itself activated local community and gave the school new identity, it is an attempt to rethink how limited urban school environments can become more inclusive, differentiated and humane. The project argues that school courtyards should function not only as controlled sports surfaces, but as complex developmental landscapes that support the emotional, social and physical needs of children growing up in dense cities.
Urban condition
The Vertical Playgarden was built in the courtyard of the Bajza Street Primary School in Budapest’s 6th district, one of the densest inner-city areas of the Hungarian capital. More than 500 children use the school every day, yet the courtyard had long functioned as a mono-functional sports field: a rubber-covered surface enclosed by school buildings and a swimming hall, offering little opportunity for retreat, free play, nature or differentiated use.
The project began in 2019. Architect Ádám Pásztor — co-founder of Studio Kraft — experienced the courtyard not only as a designer, but also as a parent of two local students. Looking for solution, the only available area was a narrow six-meter-wide service zone between the sports yard and the swimming hall — an unlikely place for a meaningful spatial intervention. What first appeared to be an unrealistic idea gradually became a shared project involving the school leadership, the Municipality of Terézváros, teachers, parents, designers, engineers and the architects of Studio Kraft.
Differentiated space for children
The project was based on a simple premise: children are fundamentally different from one another. Their spatial needs vary according to age, personality, sensory sensitivity, social behavior and neurological development. Traditional early 20th-century school buildings and courtyards rarely accommodate this diversity. The project proposes a child-centered spatial environment that supports movement, retreat, observation, informal gathering, free play and outdoor learning simultaneously.
Vertical strategy
The project transforms the narrow leftover strip beside the sports yard into a vertically layered play landscape. Small timber “treehouses” standing on stilts are positioned at different heights and connected through stairs, nets, rope tunnels and bridges.
The vertical organization was not a formal gesture but a spatial necessity. In a dense urban environment where no additional land could be created, the project adds usable space through layering rather than expansion.
The atmosphere intentionally recalls improvised treehouses and garden structures instead of standardized playground equipment letting the children imagination work. Different heights, scales and levels of enclosure create a wide range of situations for children with different temperaments and needs: active play, solitude, observation, conversation or collective activities.
At the same time, the system remains visually transparent. From the circulation route running along the structure, teachers maintain clear oversight while children still experience moments of intimacy and retreat.
The playgarden is used not only during school breaks but also for outdoor classes, after-school activities and summer camps, and it increasingly functions as part of the district’s shared social infrastructure.
Materiality and sustainability
Environmental education and direct sensory experience were central aspects of the project. In a highly built inner-city environment, it was important that children encounter natural materials, vegetation and seasonal change in their everyday life.
The structure primarily uses larch and okoume timber combined with painted steel elements and reusable profiled metal roofing. Climbing plants were integrated wherever possible, with the intention that the protective steel mesh surfaces gradually become overgrown and transform into a green inner-city arbor.
Since a more complete transformation of the city block interior can happen in the future, the components were designed with reuse and recyclability in mind. The project aims to demonstrate that even temporary or lightweight urban interventions can create long-term environmental and social value.
Community realization
The project was realized through close collaboration. The design process included questionnaires for teachers, workshops with educators and a children’s drawing competition titled Your Dream School Courtyard, organized during the Covid pandemic. While teachers emphasized transparency, safety and the possibility of outdoor classes, children consistently expressed a desire for hiding places, climbing structures, greenery, smaller social spaces and playful vertical movement. These needs directly shaped the final concept and also strengthened the community.
The openness of the school leadership and the commitment of the district made it possible to transform an overlooked residual space into a meaningful environment for children and local families.
Completed in 2025, the Vertical Playgarden is not simply a playground addition. While the project itself activated local community and gave the school new identity, it is an attempt to rethink how limited urban school environments can become more inclusive, differentiated and humane. The project argues that school courtyards should function not only as controlled sports surfaces, but as complex developmental landscapes that support the emotional, social and physical needs of children growing up in dense cities.
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