On Thursday, 26 October 2023, we opened Rog Centre, a new, open creative centre, where we open the doors wide to cultural and creative people and place manufacturing, design and applied arts at the centre.

The Rog Factory, the symbol of the iconic Rog bicycles, is the most important industrial cultural heritage site of the 20th century in Ljubljana. With the renovation project and the Rog Centre program, we have preserved the factory building in its original function, and in the future, it will operate as a public production space of the 21st century, intended for the cultural and creative sector, with an emphasis on manufacturing, design and applied arts.

With the former Rog Factory revived as the Rog Centre, a new international creative and social centre will be established in the centre of Ljubljana, and it will be closely integrated into the local environment. With its modern infrastructure, knowledge and international connections, the Rog Centre will provide creators, organizations, companies and citizens with a creative support environment for the development of socially beneficial innovative projects in the fields of manufacturing, urban handicrafts, applied arts, design and architecture.

Rog Centre program

Rog Centre will offer support programs and shared use of modern infrastructure for the needs of actors and creators in the target area (production, educational, event and exhibition space) on four floors spanning over 8,500 m2.

Joint production laboratories

On the ground floor and partly on the second floor, there will be production spaces and shared laboratories – both those with modern computer-controlled technologies and those using more traditional techniques:

• 3D manufacturing laboratory or fablab with a recycling plant and an electrical laboratory
• textile laboratory
• woodworking laboratory
• metallurgical laboratory
• green laboratory
• glass and ceramic laboratory
• multimedia laboratory
• cooking laboratory

Individual project spaces

These premises of Rog Centre will be intended for manufacturers, urban artisans and craftsmen, designers, architects and engineers, as well as those active in the field of applied arts. Around 25 individual project spaces on 1250 m2 will be awarded by Rog Centre on a non-profit basis (without rent, with running costs covered) based on public tenders published by the Rog Centre. They will be intended for individuals and collectives who develop socially useful products in accordance with the fundamental values of the Rog Centre.

Residential work areas

Five residential areas of the Rog Centre will be used for living and work of foreign creators, researchers and lecturers from the target areas of the public institute.

Library and social areas

On the first floor of the Rog Centre, the new unit of the Ljubljana City Library occupies 300 m2 and offers 18,000 items of library materials. Part of the library is dedicated to the youngest, but it also includes a newspaper reading room, a classroom and publicly accessible computers.

The Rog Centre also has a 600 m2 space for larger events and a multi-purpose lecture hall. You can also visit a cafe, a bistro with a delicatessen, a restaurant and six shops.

Surroundings of Rog Centre – park and pedestrian area

In parallel to the renovation of Rog, we also designed the Park of the Erased, a new public green area with planted trees and a monument in the shape of the letter Ć. We also renovated the Petkovšek Embankment and thus increased the area for pedestrians and cyclists and additionally revitalized the area along the Ljubljanica River from the city centre towards the renovated Cukrarna Gallery.