FabLab FABLAB CROATIAPeople · Places · Policy
HR
Places pillar · SDG 11 & 8

Places

Infrastructure as a social obligation: the spaces we renovate and transform — from Ilica via Grobnik to the islands — and the projects that drive them.

Urban context
Fab City Zagreb
Rural & remote
Slavonian plains · Lika & Gorski kotar · Adriatic (AGL → MMI)
Five locations

Infrastructure as a social obligation

Ilica 69 Ilica 69Zagreb · city centre — a former patent-fastener factory, today home to FabLab, a small metal-goods manufacturer and two design studios. A space we renovated ourselves — our home since 2019, and the heart of Project Ilica.Our home · since 2019
Sljeme SljemeZagreb · Sesvete — a former meat-processing complex, 100 ha, abandoned for 20 years. Sesvete (~100,000 residents) would be Croatia’s third-largest city if it had a real centre — the complex becomes a productive innovation hub: makerspace, music school, art depot. With the City of Zagreb, CENTRINNO, proGIreg.Proposed
Prvić Luka Prvić LukaVodice · Šibenik — a former youth and astronomy centre, abandoned for 10 years. Croatia had 100 inhabited islands a century ago; fewer than 50 remain today. The space becomes a living lab for sustainable, year-round island life and reversing depopulation. Presented twice in Brussels (2019, 2022).In Brussels 2019/2022
Grobnik GrobnikČavle · Primorje — a former school, now a centre for creativity and science promotion. Our first completed transformation — a replicable model that draws visitors to the historic fortifications and creates demand for local revitalisation.Done 2025/26
Krvavica KrvavicaMakarska · Dalmatia — a former children’s hospital, an architecturally significant modernist building, abandoned for 30 years. Becomes a European learning centre for heritage-to-innovation conversion — anchoring a Mediterranean Makers network for the whole basin. FabLab submitted the conversion proposal in May 2026.Proposal, May 2026
“Accountability isn’t imposed from above — it’s built from within.”
Place initiatives
Ilica 69 — our spaceA former patent-zipper factory — a workshop we renovated ourselves: machines, equipment and an open door. Several buildings of the former factory now form a small creative-production centre — alongside us, there are two design studios and a metalworking shop. Fab City ZagrebUrban context · Vision 2054 Adriatic GreenLabRural and island communities · Mediterranean Makers Initiative
History arhiv.fablab.hr — Association's website from 2013-2026.
Financially supported by — National Foundation for Civil Society Development FabLab, an association for the promotion of digital fabrication, is a beneficiary of Thematic Systemic Support in the STEM field, as a driver of development under the National Foundation for Civil Society Development.
For institutions and partners

A Croatian Contribution to a European Renaissance

Thirteen years of building local ecosystems — from Croatia’s first FabLab to a model connecting people, places and policy. Europe invested in our capability; this is how we give it back.

Digital inclusionCreative confidenceHeritage-led innovationAccountability from withinRural resilienceCircular cityEuropean valuesSustainable Development Goals
For partners & sponsors →
Support us opencollective.com/fablabhr or ko-fi.com/fablabhr — We work free of charge for schools and the community — your donation makes it possible.