Mena

The design of the Mena Youth Center in Rotselaar stems from a clear ambition: to create a true meeting place. From the initial competition phase, the architects organized participatory sessions with the youth center's board, allowing the needs and expectations of its users to guide the project. One question shaped the process: how to translate the idea of "being at home" architecturally into a youth center?

The main space is conceived as a “second living room”: informal, warm, and flexible. The spatial organization and material choices are guided by use rather than appearance. Both the functional layout and the technical systems are adapted to the modes of occupancy, which alternate between periods of intense activity and quieter times.

Faced with a limited budget, the project adopts a conscious and precise strategy. The building engages with its surroundings—a town center marked by the presence of a modernist brewery—while simultaneously offering the necessary robustness for intensive youth use. The principle of “structure as finish” is applied whenever possible, reducing unnecessary layers without sacrificing a defined architectural identity. For surfaces requiring additional finishes, the materials are chosen in relation to their built context.

Sustainability is integrated into the program from the outset. The spaces are designed to adapt to new requirements over time. The morphology and site plan are key to enabling this flexibility and fostering a diversity of community uses.

To minimize disturbance to neighboring properties, two facades are designed as closed, solid volumes that act as acoustic buffers. In contrast, the openings are strategically oriented towards patios and communal outdoor spaces.

The project was developed in close collaboration with the municipality of Rotselaar and a small team of engineers, allowing technical and budgetary decisions to directly influence the architectural design. Rather than addressing cost control as a separate issue, certain spatial choices—such as the repetition of the structural grid or the reduction of finishing plasterwork—were considered cost-effective strategies in themselves.

Energy and spatial sustainability are addressed through the specific ways the center is used. Since the building is only occupied at certain times of the week, functions are deliberately shared and the facilities are kept compact. Service routes are optimized, technical systems are simplified, and spaces are sized to accommodate multiple usage scenarios, ensuring efficiency without losing the informal and welcoming character that defines the project.