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Co-designing future oriented societal infrastructure

24. Mar 2026
© Bob Van Mol

Everywhere, community centres, churches, schools and other collective facilities are facing a major renovation task. At the same time, in a more diverse society, there is a growing demand for places of encounter, where different groups and programs come together. Reinventing our public heritage as shared facilities for multiple functions and communities is therefore obvious, but it also poses a challenge for organisations, local authorities and policymakers: who will take on the connecting and coordinating role? Without a new approach that activates available real estate around existing needs and dynamics, the necessary wave of transformation will not occur.


Designing such a new methodology for multifunctional and interdisciplinary community places requires a co-creative environment. The varied composition of local authorities, pioneering organisations, experts and civil society and support centre organisations present at the closing session of the Learning Environment for Social Infrastructure was therefore an excellent context to work on this. On the basis of the publication Negen sleutels voor toekomstgerichte maatschappelijke infrastructuur (Nine keys for future-oriented social infrastructure), we looked back on the lessons learned from the process, structured in a framework of nine chapters with dozens of building blocks, and we explore the roadpath towards a formal framework and further partnerships.

The fact that social infrastructure is a story of bricks and people is once again evident from the signals that emerged from the panel discussion and the break-out sessions: we must maintain strategic land positions as much as possible and at the same time dare to invest heavily in the human work that makes shared use of space not only a necessity, but also an added value. Finally, the importance of shared use of space, all the more so in the Brussels context, was also underlined by the Minister of Brussels and Media Cieltje Van Achter in her concluding reflection.

After one year of learning environment, there is a framework for a new approach, now there is a need for collective action for a supportive framework for a thriving practice for future-oriented social infrastructure!

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WORKROOM

Since 2010, Architecture Workroom Brussels has focused on the future of our living environment. The organisation began as a safe haven to address the link between space and societal transitions, aimed at fostering a futureproof design practice, commissioning and building culture.

It has now become evident that the transformation of our streets, neighbourhoods, and landscapes is both a prerequisite and a lever for achieving societal goals in synergy. Yet we observe that these transformations remain difficult to imagine and implement. They span so many sectors and involve so many actors that responsibility falls on everyone, and therefore, ultimately, on no one.

That is why we make it our mission to create the space that connects them. And with this refined mission comes a new name: WORKROOM, House for transformation. WORKROOM is the shared space where the future of our living environment is not only imagined but also organised.

We are currently taking the lead on three mission-driven transformations:

  • SOCIETAL INCUBATORS - By 2030, stakeholders from the youth, culture, sports, care and education sectors will join forces to create renewed societal spaces that tackle loneliness and counteract the fragmentation and pressure on public infrastructure.
  • FOSSIL-FREE NEIGHBOURHOODS - By 2030, at least ten neighbourhoods will be underway with the transition to fossil-free energy in an inclusive and affordable way, with a view to completely phase-out fossil fuels by 2040.
  • SPONGE LANDSCAPES - By 2030, we will have achieved our water, agriculture and nature goals through a single, coherent approach at catchment area level, in which strong regional coalitions collectively enhance the landscape's sponge capacity.

To make these transformations a reality, WORKROOM works shoulder to shoulder with pioneering designers, local authorities, organisations and businesses, governments, knowledge institutions and impact investors.

Through co-creative design, we imagine shared pathways to the future in exhibitions, publications, innovation programmes and public programmes. These are the workrooms where we connect the actors capable of realising these transformations. From there, we design shared ownership and the organisational, funding and policy models that lead to real change.

The name is simpler. The stakes are higher. WORKROOM is the shared space where we tackle the social and spatial transformations that no one can achieve alone. In an era of polarisation, compartmentalisation and instability, that is perhaps the most radical thing we can do.