Buny Bakery & Breakfast, Studio: Hubinský Ateliér. Architecture: Juraj Hubinský, Kornélia Lincéniová. Others: Magdaléna Scheryová (graphic design) (source: Mgr. art. Matej Hakar)
A library created from a row of historical burgher houses, a riverside sauna on the Danube, a barn transformed into an art hub in the Myjava hills, and a hillside family house with three units. All these are among the finalists of the CE ZA AR 2025 architecture awards.
This year, 23 works have advanced to the final round, in six categories. The winners will be selected by an international jury that includes Reto Gmür (Switzerland), Samppa Lappalainen (Finland), Till Rehwaldt (Germany), Silja Tillner (Austria), and Slovak experts Henrieta Moravčíková, Zuzana Zacharová and Oliver Sadovský. Out of the 93 submitted projects, the jury personally visited about one-third of them, in locations across Slovakia.
The competition’s motto, #domaveurope (#homeineurope), highlights Slovak architecture’s position as an integral part of the European cultural landscape. According to the Slovak Chamber of Architects, this year’s finalists reflect values of openness, democracy, and social as well as environmental responsibility.
Family Houses feature both new builds and reconstructions. Notable entries include Dom Banánka in Banka (Paulíny Hovorka Architekti), a generous minimalist home set in greenery; a transformed house in Plavecký Štvrtok (Kilo/Honč); a regional-style house in Dolná Lehota (What Architects); and Strmé domky in Bratislava (Eckhardt.studio), a family home split into three units on a steep slope.
The Interiors category includes four non-residential projects: Nehera Store in Bratislava (Kilo/Honč); the Prešov Regional Library, consisting of three historic burgher houses under heritage protection (bistan architekti & Doxa); Bratislava’s Buny bakery-bistro, an artisanal bakery located on the ground floor of a residential building in the '500 Flats' residential estate that features a characteristic structural system of reinforced concrete columns, masonry walls, and a prefabricated concrete slab ceiling; and, last but not least, the Japanese-inspired Konomi Tea House (Mapa).
Exteriors include Lávka medzi stromami ('footbridge between the trees'), a treetop walkway in Bratislava (plusminusarchitects); a new skatepark in the city’s Janko Kráľ Park (U/U Studio); and the renewal of the courtyard of a Trnava housing estate, Agátka (Ivana Štigová Kučírková).
In the Residential Buildings category, three Bratislava projects have been nominated. Civic and Industrial Buildings lead with five finalists, including a primary school extension in Bernolákovo (Bakyta architekti). The goal of this school block extension was to create a harmonious and compact whole with the existing elementary school building. The new pavilion adopts compositional features of the original 1935 school. Together, the new and existing structures define the urban block and create a new public space for a children’s playground.
Other nominees include Magna Energia’s new headquarters in Piešťany, a winery in Strekov (What Architects), the Unidom reconstruction in Trenčín (Hubinský ateliér), and a production facility in Krivá.
The Phenomena of Architecture category, introduced in 2019, highlights unconventional works. This year’s nominees are a revitalized pavilion - caffè in Bratislava's Janko Kráľ Park, a public sauna on the Danube, a barn-turned-art hermitage in Hontianske Trst’any, and the Poriadie artists' residence (SPDe).
The winners will be announced on October 2 at Bratislava’s Stará tržnica. The gala will be broadcast live on state broadcaster STVR’s Dvojka TV channel. In addition to the jury prizes, the Public Choice Award and Architecture Patron Award will also be presented.
