building slem
slem waalwijk from town hall to footwear academy Our building is a great example of how you can re-purpose an abandoned office building in a way that benefits the community. With the help of architects Doepel Strijkers we completely refurbished part of the former town hall of Waalwijk; a small town, yet one of the biggest footwear hubs in the world. An ideal place for an education and innovation centre for the footwear industry. Since we had a time frame of only two months and a very small budget, Doepel Strijkers came up with the idea to paint the whole building all in one colour. The choice for light blue was no coincidence: when you tan leather with chrome salts - the most common way of tanning - you get this colour. Since the skins need to be kept wet for further processing, it is called ‘wet blue’, which is reflected in the shiny ‘wet’ look of our floor. The vintage furniture on the other hand is all made of wood and naturally tanned leather, to reflect the natural side of the footwear and leather business. Everything was done with the help of local companies and institutions, also adding a social aspect to the project. On the next pages you will see the wonderful end result of our fruitful collaboration! Our building is used to train students and professionals about future innovation for the footwear industry, but it can also be rented for receptions, events and brainstorms.
welcome to slem!
SLEM is based on Raadhuisplein, the historic main square of Waalwijk, and is surrounded by restaurants and stores. We are in the pedestrian area, yet there are two large parking lots in the direct vicinity and a nearby bus station.
The entrance hall is used for footwear exhibitions created by our master students, but is also an ideal space for receptions and networking events for about 150 people. These can also be extended to the adjourning courtyard.
SLEM does not have traditional classrooms. Instead, each room has multiple functions. The hall is also an exhibition space, the canteen is also a meeting room and the big workspace can also function as an auditorium.
The industrial building, the fresh blue colour, the leather and the antique furniture create a unique environment for our students and for third parties that would like to rent our building for their meetings and events.
The curtains are all made of leather skins that would otherwise have gone to the landfill. Now they are one of the most beautiful and practical features of our building.
The big workspace functions as a studio where our students develop ideas and prototypes, but it can also be used as an auditorium that can house about 150 people. It has a stage, a big screen, a video projector and a basic sound system.
The facade of the building is historic and monumental, so it could not be painted. The new part was added in the eighties. The division between the two parts is signified by a glass corridor.
The stage is large enough to function as a separate meeting room. It is great for brainstorms, since it has a wonderful view of the main square, but also offers the possibility to close the curtain all around, creating a black leather ‘cave’...
The canteen is mostly used for classes, but is also very suitable for meetings, since it has direct access to our professional kitchen and can be darkened for video projection. It houses about 15 people. We have several mobile white boards and cork boards available.
We put the shoes of Riny Dumoulin and his partners - who took it upon themselves to spray paint the entire building blue within two weeks - on display in our canteen, as a tribute to their hard work.
This is the office of the SLEM staff and this is therefore only rented out in the evenings. The chairs are from famous Dutch designer Gispen and have been re-upholstered with leather that was donated to SLEM by Riwo Transportation.
rental prices slemify your event! We enjoy sharing our wonderful building with others and know from experience that the fresh blue colour will improve productivity and freshen your outlook on life! As soon as we opened we received requests from various organisations that wanted to rent our building, so we have created the following price list:
Library: €25 Entrance hall: €50 Canteen: €50 Auditorium/workspace: €100 Auditorium stage only: €50 All prices are per hour and excluding 21% VAT. We can make special package prices for renting multiple spaces and/or multiple days. Our regular opening hours are between 09:00 - 17:30 on weekdays. Should you want to rent any of our spaces outside of these hours, we have to apply a 20% surcharge. Of course our classes to students and professionals have priority, so please contact Judith Sanders for availability: office@slem.nl or +31 416 757630.
SLEM’s library offers a wide variety of books on shoes, art, design, fashion, architecture, marketing and technology, including a selection of Western and Asian magazines. You can use it for brainstorms or to simply work with the information.
before & after the great transformation The building had not been in use for a few years when the municipality of Waalwijk offered it to us. We started refurbishing in November of 2012 and opened at the end of January 2013. On the next pages you can see the dramatic transformation we achieved in this time. We want to thank everyone who helped us make this possible:
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Gemeente Waalwijk Doepel Strijkers Midpoint Brabant Rabobank de Langstraat SeLL Dumoulin Schilderwerken PM Bouw JP Elektrotechniek Tavenu Maton Riwo Metro XL Fabriek NL Wieke Hoeke 2013
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SLEM Waalwijk Raadhuisplein 1-2 5141 KG Waalwijk The Netherlands info@slem.nl phone +31 416 757630 www.slem.nl Photography by Teo Krijgsman & Wieke Hoeke