Loading...
What can you do here?
Make, learn and repair. But also borrow, work and eat. All our labs and workspaces are under one roof at the Vaartkom, each with its own open hours.
Make
Come and make in an open lab
Textiles, print, electronics or 3D printing: every lab has the machines ready and people to get you started. During an open lab you simply walk in.
Textile Lab
Sustainable textile workspace for anyone who wants to work with fabric and clothing: from sewing classes and visible mending to knitting, crocheting and the annual Repair Café.
OpenThursday 14:00–16:00 — open sewing studio
Graphic Lab
Informal meeting and learning space for photo-graphics, run by artists and volunteers. With screen printing, riso printing, etching press, photo studio and (soon) a darkroom.
OpenThursday 18:00–21:30
High Tech Lab
Open and inclusive makerspace focused on circular material innovation: laser cutter, 3D printers, CNC machines and plastic recycling. Volunteer-led and for all ages.
OpenThursday 18:00–22:00 · Saturday 14:00–18:00
Studios
Studio spaces for artistic residencies and projects, in close collaboration with Cas-co. Open studio for emerging projects.
In the makingBiomaterials Lab
An open lab where residents, students and start-ups experiment with sheet material from waste streams (pressing, resins, new recipes) and so help invent what tomorrow's circular construction will work with.
Want to help invent? Let us know
Learn
Learn a technique
Workshops and courses for beginners and for those who want to go further, from riso to laser cutting. You will find them in the calendar. In every open lab you also learn from whoever is there.
Workshops in the calendarRepair
Fix what's broken
Bring your broken appliance or garment. At the monthly repair cafés volunteers fix your things; in the repair hubs experienced repairers do it as a paid service.
Electronics Repair Hub
Weekly repair service for small electrical appliances, audio equipment and tools. Experienced repairers try to get your device working again within an hour.
Textile Repair Hub
Professional textile repair carried out by talented people who face barriers to the labour market. Drop off at fixed points in Leuven; prices €7–€35.
Borrow
Borrow tools
You don't need to buy a drill for one job. The tool library lends it out.
Work
Work among makers
A desk in the cowork space, or a room for your workshop, meeting or studio.
Rent a space
Eat
Join us for a meal
The canteen is where everyone meets: those who come to make, those who come to repair, and those who are simply hungry.
MachinesSee all machines
Looking for a machine?
Laser cutter, 3D printers, cutting plotter and more: discover which machines you can use and what they cost.
Art here is not decoration but a way of knowing in its own right: it asks the questions that specialisms skip and lets us look differently at the world we are rebuilding. That is why the artists' studios sit in the middle of our site and not at its edge, and why artists, technicians, children and engineers work side by side here.
Ready to get started?
Drop by during our open hours or book a workshop. Anyone can learn to make!