The Rog Centre, Ljubljana

The renovation of the former factory restores the building’s lost spatial qualities and exploits the potential of its exceptional urban location.

A bold concept for the redevelopment of the former tannery on the Ljubljanica riverbank, which after World War II housed the production facilities of the legendary Rog bicycle factory. After the company went out of business, the building remained vacant for several years, until its premises were squatted by various cultural creators. In 2015 the concept of the renovation was then selected as a competition project, for which the expert jury wrote that the planned interventions respect the qualities of the historic industrial complex as much as possible and transform it non-invasively into a creative centre of the city.

After abandoning the planned new buildings on the northern and eastern sides of the former industrial area, the implementation of the competition project focused on the renovation of a four-storey volume of a 120-meter abandoned factory. Nearly 9,000 square metres of the historic industrial icon were redeveloped by the city and dedicated to users active in design, architectural planning, engineering, urban crafts, applied arts, and visitors. The institutionalized Rog Creative Centre is important both for the city (in terms of cultural tourism) and for the development of the university, which has agreed to share the space and to work constructively with the Centre (it is probably not a coincidence that it announced the launch of a third cycle study programme in arts at the opening of the building in October this year). There are several successful examples in Europe of the conversion of former industrial buildings into applied arts or multi-generational spaces that enable and promote the integration of arts and science.

An architectural solution that makes exceptionally good use of the former factory’s spatial potential

The renovation of this prominent industrial building along the Ljubljanica River has restored the building’s lost spatial qualities and enhanced the potential of its exceptional urban location.