Tech Zity opens the door to a unique „Materials Library“: reusing the details of a former sewing factory environment

In the heart of Vilnius„ New Town, in the former premises of a sewing factory, the unique “Materials Library„ - the first of its kind in the Baltic States - has opened its doors. It is not only a repository, but also a creative laboratory where architects and interior designers will be able to select old materials and reuse them in the new interiors of Tech Zity Vilnius, a city of technology and creative industries.

„Tech Zity has started to realise an ambitious vision in a former sewing factory complex - to bring old buildings to life and create Tech Zity Vilnius Campus. Before the reconstruction work began, a large number of authentic finishing materials, interior details and objects reflecting the history of the nearly 80-year-old sewing factory were collected.

„We are building a home for the start-up community. We have inventoried and put together all the old materials and objects so that the architects of the future interiors will have them at their fingertips when presenting their visions of what they propose to use, where and how. Our goal is to integrate the old elements into the new modern interiors, so that they are distinctive, not cookie-cutter, and fun to work in. And alongside that, we are also creating partnerships with artists who use the same materials and objects to create new works of art,“ says Darius Žakaitis, CEO of Tech Zity.

That's why the library was designed as a home, he says, to show the feeling of being able to create creatively with tools and materials that wouldn't normally be kept.

„In the Materials Library, visitors can explore exhibits ranging from authentic tiles to furniture made from old sewing bales or sewing machines. Each item has its own story, which can be discovered in a specially created “Red Book„ (www.techzity.com/biblioteka).

„If we protect endangered nature, we can also protect some endangered objects or materials - that's why we have made sense of it all in the symbolic „Red Book“. Even though the names of the protected items in the Red Book are made up with a smile, the objects are real, preserved and ready to shine in the new interiors,“ says Žakaitis.

„The idea of the Materials Library was born by A2SM architect Aurimas Sasnauskas, who is implementing the transformation of the oldest former sewing factory building.

„I have no doubt that architects and interior designers will have their eyes lit up and their creative process will kick in as soon as they step into this space - even the use of a few unique old details can create the uniqueness of a modern interior,“ says A. Sasnauskas.

„Tech Zity Vilnius is Europe's largest future technology and creative industries city, being developed in Naujamiestis, in the former Lelija sewing factory complex. The first phase will open about one third of the total planned complex - 15.5 thousand sqm out of the planned 55 thousand sqm. 

„Tech Zity manages four start-up, technology and creative industries locations in Vilnius - Tech Park, Tech Arts, Tech Loft and the future Tech Zity Vilnius. The company also owns Tech Spa, a workplace project in Druskininkai.