The Microfactory + Materials Lab is planned as a preliminary phase of CIVIC SQUARE's wider retrofit of the Port Loop development into the Neighbourhood Public Square. They plan to transform the ex-industrial site into a community hub that will include a cafe, learning spaces, workspaces, a theatre and a Microfactory + Materials Lab in which biobased materials can be both fabricated by the community and from which repairs can be managed.

The Depot building is an early example of reinforced concrete in an art deco style which is left as an exposed frame in the utilitarian space. The roof of the Depot doubles as a large ramp, providing levelled access to the top floor of the adjacent factory building. The retrofit of the space into the Microfactory + Materials Lab will be a platform for activating a working site for the neighbourhood, and will be one of the new biobased retrofit demonstrators as part of the EU Horizon funded INBUILT project that Material Cultures are members of.

The Microfactory + Materials Lab is planned as a preliminary phase of CIVIC SQUARE's wider retrofit of the Port Loop development into the Neighbourhood Public Square. They plan to transform the ex-industrial site into a community hub that will include a cafe, learning spaces, workspaces, a theatre and a Microfactory + Materials Lab in which biobased materials can be both fabricated by the community and from which repairs can be managed.

The Depot building is an early example of reinforced concrete in an art deco style which is left as an exposed frame in the utilitarian space. The roof of the Depot doubles as a large ramp, providing levelled access to the top floor of the adjacent factory building. The retrofit of the space into the Microfactory + Materials Lab will be a platform for activating a working site for the neighbourhood, and will be one of the new biobased retrofit demonstrators as part of the EU Horizon funded INBUILT project that Material Cultures are members of.

INBUILT emphasises a shift from traditional construction models to more sustainable and efficient methods and will pioneer ten innovative products and systems, including large-sized rammed earth blocks, recycled fired and non-fired bricks, hybrid straw-clay boards, bio-based recycled insulation sheet panels/infill to name a few, and aims to integrate a digital platform employing a Building Information Modelling (BIM)-based approach, which will be responsible for streamlining the construction project´s entire lifecycle.

Photography by Thom Bartley

Visualisation by Somewhere