Work warehouse

At the site of the former animal feed factory De Heus in Den Bosch, the aim is to create a temporary space for the city. The “work warehouse” of Social Label is one of the parties that has been given the opportunity to put the area on the map and enrich the city over the next ten years. Social Label is a foundation aimed at helping people on the margins of the labor market find work through the opportunities that design offers. Part of the building is used by Social Label as a showroom and office space. Additionally, the restaurant Van Aken, part of the foundation, has made a flying start there. In the pink-painted space, parties, dance evenings, and various cultural activities are hosted.

We were asked to come up with a plan to open up the rest of the building. There needed to be workspaces for Social Label itself, but also spaces to be rented out to other creative companies and initiatives.

The plans could not be too complicated or costly, as the investment needs to be recouped in ten years. This was quite challenging, but it also simplified things: almost everything is too expensive, so how could we add something that is truly meaningful and adds value? We decided to focus on removing rather than adding, and what is created must also be extremely simple.

The municipality had already prepared the building for use, which mainly meant making it windproof, waterproof, and (fire) safe. The municipality’s construction method, which involved nailing everything shut with beams and sheet material, formed the basis for the additions we made. Much of the sheet material was removed and replaced with glass, and the new facades were constructed in a similar way. We also removed a lot of steel from the building (which was also beneficial) and removed floor panels to create voids, light, and visibility. From the solid floor panels, we made a few walkways and stairs.

Several existing steel towers, former industrial boilers, tanks, and/or silos have been preserved and transformed into workspaces. The large building will remain unheated, but the smaller workspaces can be individually heated. The large open space functions as a kind of ‘indoor-outdoor space’. The initial plans were simple on paper but quite extensive in practice. Upon closer examination, it turned out that the existing stairs could just as well, or perhaps even better, remain in place.

The plan is very simple because the building is so large and because so many different users will be taking up residence, it is essential that visitors or users can understand the layout of the building at a glance upon entry. Instead of a slow, organic succession of smaller tenants occupying a space, which is often seen in such buildings, we conceived of making one intervention that allows the same process to happen, but from one central space and idea, without hindering anyone.

To create the central space, we removed two existing masonry facades that faced each other and replaced them with wooden beam glass walls and large-beamed entrance doors. We also removed the intermediate wooden floor panels from the upper floors from top to bottom. The result is a large space where everyone can connect with each other, allowing companies and activities to find and create their own place – a social work center.