Ajka is a changing, young city with a clear distinction due to its heavy – industry past. It has a strong bond to its traditional retreat, the Somló hill. In the past, Ajkas inhabitants left the city in search for recreation, a healthy environment and distance from work. Thus, the city centre developed into a merely single-purpose area, to cater for daily needs and convenient shopping. To transform the city centre into an environment suitable for a now rapidly changing city and area, Ajka Rocks brings the recreational qualities and identity of Ajka’s beloved Somló hill into the city as a synonym for Ajka’s tradition to recuperate on vineyards and weekend houses. Ajka Rocks refers to Ajka‘s history as a mining town and to it’s crystal factory by it’s crystalline, mountain-like structure. It creates an icon for Ajka’s future that concentrates functions of a modern city center and brings recreational qualities into an urban context. The surrounding existing buildings strongly benefit from the iconic impact of the complex. Recreational and sport functions are placed on the skin around the building as on hillside slopes together with strong identity catalysts, such as a showcase vineyard.