You wouldn't expect to find industrial architecture in a forest, yet this is exactly where the new factory for urban furniture manufacturer Vestre will be located, when it completes in a few years' time. Worry not; the manufacturing facility will not be at odds with its natural surroundings. As its architects, the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) explain, this is set to be ‘the world's most sustainable furniture factory.'
Titled The Plus, the building is conceived as a village, guided by principles such as sustainable architecture and high-efficiency production. The Vestre community will operate within, creating its product using carbon neutral fabrication methods. Meanwhile, the project will double as a public 300-acre park for hiking and camping.
‘Vestre will be the world’s most sustainable furniture manufacturer,' says the company's CEO Jan Christian Vestre. ‘Building The Plus will be an important step in reaching this goal. By using cutting-edge technology and Scandinavian collaboration, we can produce faster and greener than ever. In that way we will ensure global competitiveness through our leadership in environmentally-conscious production.'
Materials were carefully chosen to fit the concept and include local timber, low-carbon concrete and recycled reinforcement steel. Here, automation will meet nature, as accessible green roofs (where employees and public are invited to stroll and hike) blend with smart robots and digital technologies inside.
The building's layout is designed to facilitate workflow. There are four branches - the warehouse, the colour factory, the wood factory and the assembly – all of which connect at a central hub. In this are the logistics office and an exhibition centre.
RELATED STORY
‘With Vestre we have imagined a factory that is simultaneously front of house and back of house,' says Bjarke Ingels. ‘The beauty of the factory is the clarity of its organization. Conceived as the intersection of a road and a production line it forms a large plus connecting everything to everything. The radical transparency invites visitors and hikers to enjoy the whole process of manufacturing while providing the workers the thrill of working in the middle of the forest.'
The Plus is set to become the first industrial building in the whole Nordic region to achieve BREAM Outstanding, which is the highest environmental certification of its kind.
INFORMATION
-
Ikea meets Japan in this new pattern-filled collectionNew Ikea Sötrönn collection by Japanese artist Hiroko Takahashi brings Japan and Scandinavia together in a pattern-filled, joyful range for the home
-
Coming soon: a curated collection of all the new EVs and hybrids that matterWe've rounded up new and updated offerings from Audi, Porsche, Ineos, Mini and more to keep tabs on the shifting sands of the mainstream car market
-
Southern Arizona sets the scene for a corking vineyard experience at Los MilicsLos Milics winery, designed by Chen + Suchart Studio, is set among vines at the foothills of the Mustang Mountains
-
EPIQ's ‘vertical neighbourhood’ is a dynamic design centred on green space and heritageIn Quito, Ecuador, EPIQ by developer Uribe Schwarzkopf and architect Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) is a dynamic contemporary build that slots into the cityscape
-
One High Line’s twisting towers by BIG dance in New YorkOne High Line by Bjarke Ingels’ BIG is completed in New York, including a home interior by designer Dan Fink
-
For sale: Designed by Bjarke Ingels, Vollebak Island is both building research lab and radical retreatBilled as the ultimate escape from everyday reality, Vollebak Island is the clothing brand’s bold take on a sustainable utopia, as well as a massive self-build project designed by Bjarke Ingels
-
Marfa’s El Cosmico campground hotel is getting a 3D-printed revampEl Cosmico in Marfa, Texas, is being reimagined by BIG, 3D-printing specialist Icon and hotelier Liz Lambert
-
IQON is BIG’s South American debut in QuitoQuito gets a brutalist urban addition – IQON – courtesy of Bjarke Ingels and Ecuadorian developer Uribe Schwarzkopf
-
Battersea Power Station redesign heralds new era for London landmarkWe tour the freshly redesigned Battersea Power Station, a legendary piece of London architecture and its growing, new urban hub
-
BIG’s Refugee Museum of Denmark addresses ‘one of the world’s greatest challenges’BIG has converted and extended buildings at a Second World War Danish refugee camp to create the new Refugee Museum of Denmark
-
Minimalism and transparency rule at Luxottica’s Digital Factory in MilanLuxottica's Digital Factory by Milan-based architects Park Associati is the latest addition to the city's via Tortona neighbourhood
