Debrecen4U September 19, 2025

The “Cívis” House of the Year Award was presented

The “Cívis” House of the Year Award was presented at the Debrecen Reformed University Church at the 4th Our Heritage Debrecen local history conference on September 19, 2025.

The general assembly established the “Cívis” House of the Year award in May 2023 with the intention of creating a tradition, the aim of which is to reward those who are at the forefront of preserving the “cívis” architectural heritage. Before the award ceremony, Mayor László Papp spoke about: “An important motive of our conference is that this year we commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of József Borsos, the former technical advisor and, in today’s terms, the chief architect of our city.”

As he said, “Many of the buildings and structures dreamed up by József Borsos still stand as an ornament to the city today. For example, we can see the police palace on Kossuth Street, the former industrial school building on the corner of Csapó Street and Burgundia Street, the Public Cemetery funeral home, the northern gate that preserves the memory of the old Nagyerdei Stadium, the unique sunken park on Déri Square, the University Square Park, or even the University Church, which is also home to the conference.”

“This list also indicates that Debrecen has been a good steward of the values ​​that József Borsos created a century ago. We can also say that he had an idea that he and his predecessors did not have, but we managed to realize: in the 1930s, he outlined a plan to build a boulevard that would relieve the burden on the city center, which was eventually built by the city in recent decades. With all this, we are not only preserving József Borsos’ works but also nurturing his intellectual legacy,” László Papp underlined.

“Last year, the local government announced a very important program in the spirit of ensuring that its care policy has an encouraging effect in the field of heritage protection as well. The city—in line with its economic strength, and fortunately it has the appropriate economic strength for this—launched the program with the intention of supporting the renovation of local individually protected or listed buildings. The renovation of buildings that are of decisive importance to the cityscape, the buildings that are a hundred years old or older, represents an extremely large—primarily financial—challenge for the owners and residential communities living in them. Since these buildings are increasingly aging, the owners would probably not be able to solve the necessary renovations independently without the financial assistance of the city. This idea gave rise to a support program for the renovation of local individually protected or historic buildings, within the framework of which the building at 10-12 Szent Anna Street for 2024 and the residential community of the so-called Svetits tenement house at 43 Piac Street, financed from the city’s 2025 budget, received a renovation grant of 200 million forints each,” the mayor explained. Speaking about the properties, he said that the former house was built in 1926-1927, the latter in 1929-1930, and both buildings are very significant from a cityscape perspective.

He noted that he is proud that the city can also contribute to their renovation and that the local government would like to provide similar support opportunities for the renovation of smaller buildings and civic houses in the future.

In connection with the recognition of the “Cívis” House of the Year recognition, he recalled that in 2023 and 2024, one property each—the houses at 51 Szepességi Street and 13 Széchenyi Street—won this honorary title, and in 2025, two properties whose owners carefully preserve the city’s built heritage in an informed manner will be able to enjoy this recognition.

In addition to the two winning properties in 2025, two other buildings, 4 Bethlen Street and 6 Kétmalom Street, also applied.

The recognition was presented to the representatives of the awarded properties by Mayor László Papp and Chief Architect István Gábor.

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The property at 37 Hatvan Street

“The building reflects the mass and facade design of historical eclectic buildings, as well as their construction style. During the renovation, the facade details of the building were supplemented, and its coloring was unified. The building was renovated in 2024 as part of a complete facade renovation. The facades on Hatvan and Zúgó streets, as well as the entire interior facade, including the porch, were renovated, and the roofing was replaced over the entire surface. The architectural quality of the renovation is exemplary in the city center. The use of the site respects the eclectic building form, which is not overbuilt and fits in with the intensity of the neighboring historic buildings. Due to the local unique protection of the building, the building form was retained in its entirety during the renovation.

The renovated building forms a street scene unit with the buildings at 40 and 42 Hatvan Street, which are also under local protection, and with the historic building complex of the Fazekas Mihály Grammar School. The proportions of the building and the arrangement of its windows and doors respect the traditions of the old era, and the renovation involved only those alterations that served to highlight the beauty of the elements that form the basis of local protection.

Over the decades, due to changes in residential (condominium) use, elements that affect the street scene, such as mechanical units or unsuitable shading devices, have not been placed on the street facades. These mechanical elements were placed exclusively on the courtyard facades, in a uniform architectural design, above the eaves level. The architectural and aesthetic unity of the porch was not disrupted by mechanical equipment.

The corner plot of the building is a closed-row frame construction, which presents an eclectic street view with a balustrade-covered central risalit from Hatvan Street. Next to it, there are straight-closing framed windows with high parapets in a strict system, which are closed by a small projection at the ends of the facade section. The former linear ashlar construction of the building was retained during the renovation, and the plinth was restored. The arched gate was also renewed. 

The technical solutions used in the renovation of the building and their implementation demonstrate exemplary and forward-looking ownership.

The interior renovation of the building included the renewal of the columned inner porch and the replacement of the windows and doors in accordance with the original division ratio. In the space behind the central projection, the vaulted gateway was also renewed along with its pilaster sections.

The renovation of the building is a modern continuation of the beautiful element of the former “cívis” life; however, the interior living spaces of the building were not presented as part of the application. The building complies with the recommendations in the Townscape Manual, with special attention to the requirements imposed on buildings under local unique protection.”

The property at 3 Varga Street

“In 2023, the building at 3 Varga Street underwent a complete facade and interior renovation by the owner. The former facade decoration was not restored; its remains were conserved, and the decayed, arched gate was replaced. The new gate has the same detailing as the original. The renovation has given the building a beautiful, clean character in the streetscape. The minor section management errors in the decorative masonry work give the building a unique appearance.

The simple off-white facade of the building and the uniform plinth design give the building a modest appearance, which is well suited to its use (community house). There are no glaring details or inappropriate, artificial divisional elements on the building. The building has been well maintained since the renovation. There are several damages on the inner facade due to storm damage in the summer of 2025, the repair of which was already in progress during the on-site inspection of the Chief Architect’s Office.

The building preserves its original layout and does not have any other extensions. Given that the former residential building serving “cívis” life serves a new public function during the transformation and renovation, the associated garden and its green space system were subordinated to this new function. The building can be well integrated into the local unique protected elements of Varga Street and is the first eclectic building to emerge from the streetscape from the direction of Szent Anna Street. It forms an architectural unit with the protected buildings on the street.

The building’s mass ratio and window layout were not altered during the renovation, and it was restored to its original condition. There are no mechanical elements on the building that would have a detrimental effect on its overall appearance.

The building fits into the streetscape, forming an integral part of it, and its depth of construction matches the historical plot structure of the city center. The solutions implemented are exemplary, given that the interventions have captured the modest character of the building, which is free of decorations, in a moderate and restrained manner. This moderate approach is evident not only in the street-facing mass but also in the interior wing of the building, and the harmonious design of the interior is also evident in parallel with the exterior renovation. The structure of the building’s interior spaces has been redesigned to serve its public function.

By opening up several rooms, a large hall was created, and a religious gift shop and related background spaces were created in the street wing of the building.

The building fits well into the historic cityscape, both as part of the locally protected townhouses on Varga Street and as a defining architectural feature of the area surrounding the church on Szent Anna Street. During the renovation and conversion of the building, special attention was paid to the recommendations of the Town Image Manual regarding locally protected architectural values.”

Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu