The new workshop is the result of a partnership between the city and the university

The new community workshop of the University of Debrecen will offer architecture courses and cultural programmes.

Built in the early 1900s, the Tímárház (Tanner’s House) was once the traditional drying section of the tannery, with its courtyard. After renovation and remodelling, the new community space (known as Szárítóműhely or Drying House) largely retains its original character, but the covered courtyard and the two-storey part of the house have been given a new function. It has become an educational and community space, invested by the university. The renewed place reflects the creativity of the university’s engineering students. 

“It gives architecture students the opportunity to dream up and create spaces for the benefit of the community during their studies, thus contributing to the cultural heritage of our city,” György Kossa, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Tisza István Foundation of the University of Debrecen, said.

The site was donated free of charge by the local government to the university, which spent almost HUF 100 million to renovate it.

The result of the joint work of the city and the university, the new community space has been transformed in a way worthy of an industrial monument, in the spirit of sustainability, value preservation and value creation.

“This is the spirit in which the Tímárház was renovated thanks to the support of the local government, and now, thanks to the support of the university, we can rejoice in the renewal and new function of the former place next to the Tímárház,” Mayor László Papp emphasised. 

Zoltán Bács, Chancellor of the University, said that several years of research and planning preceded the transformation of the place into its current form, an inspiring community workshop. “Human connections and ideas are born here that can be turned into emblematic buildings for the city and the region,” he pointed out.

The new place will be the home of the architecture studio courses, but the Department of Architecture will also organise cultural programmes for the general public.