The Future Generations Lab is a temporary space run by ten young people in Leuven’s City Hall. They explore how social and technological changes will affect the future of work. The project is supported by the City of Leuven, Leuven MindGate, Flanders Technology & Innovation and AWB. It is part of a bigger plan to create a social innovation space called ‘de studio’.

The lab is located in a large open room on the second floor of the city hall. In there we designed a freestanding structure that can be used in many ways: as a workspace, exhibition area, lecture space and seating area. The structure is made from simple, modular parts, so it is easy to build, take apart and move. The main part of the structure is created out of wooden trusses from pine, inspired by old medieval cranes. These trusses are joined with plywood panels of different sizes to suit various uses. To maximilize the use of the room’s height, we added a steel scaffolding that goes through the wooden frame. This scaffolding has a staircase leading to a private meeting room called ‘the eagle’s nest’.