The Café Mendel, located in the extension of the Gregor Mendel House, serves as a cafeteria on weekdays and now remains open throughout the day – even during operating hours and without any obligation to purchase – as a space for studying and staying.

 

The goal was to rethink the room using minimal means and available resources. In collaboration with BOKU, unused furniture from storage facilities was selected, refurbished, and adapted together with a carpenter: office desks were transformed into a community table, shelving boards now clad the bar, podiums became benches, and chairs from the assembly hall were turned into lounge seats. Even their sawn-off legs found new use as bench supports.

 

The café tables, whose stone tops were made from leftover pieces from a stonemason’s workshop are combined with bases made of recycled plastic. Sculptures made of corrugated cardboard and bold color fields on walls and ceilings give the room a renewed atmosphere. With just a few interventions, a place has emerged that demonstrates how design within and with the existing can become a model for sustainable architecture.