A creative space for clever people. A place to play for adults. A café, a workshop, a shop. A space to work, meet friends and create. Or simply a place where thoughts and ideas take shape. The Lab in the center of Bratislava connects and inspires hundreds of people, join them.
Let's go back to the very beginning of the Lab - to the coworking center Connect, which was co-founded by Vlado "Vaco" Vaculík. "Connect coworking was created about 10 years ago as a space for starting companies, start-ups, creatives... We operated in Stará Cvernovka, in the mornings we worked in the premises, in the evenings we were for education and events," Vaco begins his story. "When Cvernovka started to be renovated, we were looking for new premises for Connect and the opportunity arose to take coworking even further and create a space for creatives where they could meet, but also a place where we could give them the tools to create real physical things." And so Connect joined forces with the Stará Tržnica Alliance and the Orange Foundation, and in 2016 the Lab was created.
Initially, there were a few machines, including a 3D printer, right in the café, but after a few months, a separate workshop opened, where things started to happen. "We are constantly expanding the workshop with new machines. We want to provide them to people who would like to use them, but don't have access to them otherwise. But at the same time, we want people who have small workshops at home to come to us and meet people from the community."
Currently, the workshop has several 3D printers, a plotter, a laser cutter, sewing machines, and soon an embroidery machine, and the premises also include a woodworking workshop and a small photo studio... The Lab is visited by small entrepreneurs, creative souls who want to relax after working at the computer, students of architecture, graphics, mothers on maternity leave, and hobby masters. "We have one member here who is 50 years old, is a programmer in an IT company, and I assume that with his salary he would no longer have to do anything. But he helps us with the production of various things, he founded his own startup, a software company, and in addition, he produces small "poops" for happiness, which we also sell here in our café. He has a business spirit," laughs Vaco.
More than 500 members have used the workshop since 2016, and thousands of people have come to see it in the Labe during the Open Workshop Days and the Researchers' Night event. "We are also involved in the White Night. Pali Truben has already made an installation here twice during this event, a very clever 13-year-old boy, Kubo Nagy, created an acoustic levitator here, his classmate created a steam-punk weather station here, with which he won 1st prize in a global competition, mothers come here on maternity leave to make their own products, some of which we then sell in the café in the shop. It is a playroom for adults," says Vaco. "Imagine that you pour Lego in front of a child and wait to see what they build with it. We want to give creative space to clever people, our know-how, how to use those machines, and then it is up to them what they create."
Connect Coworking currently does not have its own premises, but it still organizes various workshops, events and educational events in Labe or in KC Dunaj. "We are doing a series of lectures for women entrepreneurs, Maker's Academy for the B2B segment, and Nights on various topics. We want to do trainings on design thinking, creativity and business. We also did Mentor's Night, there were top people from business there, and startups could chat with them. We also founded the so-called Maker's boy Club in Labe - a club for clever kids. They come here once or twice a week and create something under the supervision of a lecturer. Everyone does their own project."
"The café provides a space for meetings, work, and socializing. We have larger coworking tables where people can sit, have a coffee, and work (without a fixed fee) or collaborate... In the evenings, it's a space where lectures and presentations are held, and on Friday nights, a DJ plays."Our philosophy and main goal is to connect people.
