STATUS
COMPLETED
CLIENT
Vestre A/S
TYPOLOGY
Infrastructure
SIZE M2/FT2
7,000 / 75,000
SHARE
Designed for furniture manufacturer Vestre, The Plus is a factory, visitor center, and 300-acre park located in Magnor, Norway near Vestre’s HQ and steel factory. Norway’s single largest investment in the furniture industry in decades, the 7,000 m2 production facility is dedicated to the cleanest carbon-neutral fabrication of urban furniture in the world.
Constructed in just 18 months, the building is made of local mass timber, low-carbon concrete, and recycled steel, and is set to become the first industrial building to achieve the highest environmental BREEAM Outstanding rating. The factory doubles as a public park for hiking and camping and aligns with the region’s mission to establish a green manufacturing hub outside of Oslo.
PROGRAM
— Four factory halls are arranged radially to meet each other at the center. This formation allows short distances between each production wing and an opportunity to extend them in the future.
ROUNDABOUT
— At the center, a logistical roundabout coordinates the traffic between the factory halls. Assembly lines, forklifts and people move in an organized flow around a central courtyard.
OFFICE + EXPERIENCE CENTER
— The office and exhibition center are placed at the heart of the factory above the logistical roundabout. Elevating them creates a panoramic overview without disturbing the production flow.
RECIPROCAL ROOF
— Each production wing has a lifted roof corner to integrate the office and exhibition center into the main building envelope. As such, the office keeps the forest views while gaining views into each production hall.
PUBLIC COURTYARD
— The placement of the roundabout creates an outdoor courtyard which marks the heart of the factory. It is conceived as a green yet urban public plaza to display Vestre's latest furniture collections.
GREEN ROOF
— The forest floor is lifted to the rooftop. Native seedlings and plants from the site have been cultivated and replanted to cover the factory's roof.
24/7 ACCESS
— Based on the Norwegian "Allemannsretten", the roof and the courtyard are accessible 24/7 all year round. Two staircases with views into the factory and an ADA friendly forest path lead up to the public roof. A slide ensures a fast track back to the ground.
The Plus is conceived as a radial array of four main production halls – a warehouse, color factory, wood factory, and the assembly – that connect at the center and generate the ‘plus’ shape at its intersection. The layout enables an efficient, flexible, and transparent workflow between the manufacturing units and an intuitive visitor experience.
Like a flowchart, the entire interior is organized with the color of each machine overflowing to the floors. Exploring The Plus feels like moving through an archipelago of colorful islands where the experience and overview of the factory’s activities are unified.
Inside the factories, each wing has one alternating ceiling corner lifted to create inclined roofs that allow views into the production halls as well as the forest outside. Along the color and wood factory, the sloping roofs are extended to form a pathway for visitors and staff to hike up and down the building while observing the production processes inside. All four production units are built with 21 m free-spanning, cross-laminated timber, creating flexible column free–spaces.
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"The radical transparency invites visitors and hikers to enjoy the whole process of creation while providing Vestre’s team with the thrill of working in the middle of the forest. To us, The Plus is a crystal-clear example of Hedonistic Sustainability - showing us how our sustainable future will not only be better for the environment, but also more beautiful to work in and more fun to visit."
From all four sides of the buildings, visitors and staff will be invited to hike around the facility and end their walk on the roof. Here, 900 photovoltaic panels are placed and angled according to optimal solar efficiency while effective construction and materials methods, rainwater collection systems, heat and cooling systems, green roofs, and electric vehicles contribute to ca 90% lower energy demand than that of a conventional factory. An ADA-accessible ramp will allow wheelchairs and strollers to enjoy the serpentine path and the experience of being surrounded by pine trees on all sides.
All materials were carefully selected for their environmental impact, with the façade constructed from local timber, low-carbon concrete, and recycled reinforcement steel.
Every aspect of the design is based on principles of renewable and clean energy to match Vestre’s eco-friendly production, such as ensuring a minimum of 50% lower greenhouse gas emissions than comparable factories.
The heart of The Plus draws visitors into the exhibition centers Vestre Energy and Clean Water Center where the public can learn about energy, water and circular design. A logistics office with direct connections to all four production halls allows Vestre’s team to process logistical traffic with maximum efficiency. The central hub wraps around a public, circular courtyard where the latest outdoor furniture collections are displayed according to the changing seasons. The courtyard doubles as a panopticon for visitors and staff to fully experience the factory’s production processes.
"Playfulness, democracy, and sustainability are at the heart of the Vestre brand and everything they do; our wooden, colorful factory in the middle of the Norwegian woods - surrounded by a 300,000 m2 public forest park where the local community can come to experience the gigantic Vestre furniture pieces sprinkled throughout - lives and breathes this philosophy."
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Proving that production can be sustainable and profitable even in a high-cost country like Norway, The Plus – a hybrid of a transparent and open production facility, a public park, and a literal green landmark for the manufacturing industry – exemplifies how advancements in fabrication and manufacturing can help shape both the factories of the future, and the way we experience them.
Andrea Hektor Andreas Bak Bjarke Ingels Claudia Bertolotti David Zahle Frederik Skou Jensen Giulia Frittoli Jens Majdal Kaarsholm Nanna Gyldholm Møller Ole Elkjær-Larsen Paula Madrid Ulla Hornsyld Viktoria Millentrup Agnieszka Wardzińska Ákos Márk Horváth Alexander Jacobson Andy Coward Ariana Ribas Ariana Szmedra Bjarke Koch-Ørvad Cæcilie Søs Brandt-Olsen Camille Breuil Cheng-Huang Lin Duncan Horswill Eduardo Javier Sosa Trevino Edward Durie Eva Seo-Andersen Ewa Zapiec Filip Fot Frederic Lucien Engasser Jean-Sébastien Pagnon Jenna Hukkinen Jesper Kanstrup Petersen Jonas Rask Julia Novaes Tabet Julien Bernard Jacques Picard Julius Victor Schneevoigt Kaoan Hengles De Lima Katrine Juul Katrine Sandstrøm Kristoffer Negendahl Ksenia Zhitomirskaya Luca Pileri Magni Waltersson Marcel Götz Miles Treacy Neringa Jurkonyte Ningnan Ye Palita Tungjaroen Rron Bexheti Steen Kortbæk Svendsen Sui King Yu Thor Larsen-Lechuga Tobias Hjortdal Tommy Bjørnstrup Tore Banke Tristan Harvey Xingyue Huang Zuzanna Eugenia Montwill
AWARDS
BREEAM Awards, Best New Building, 2024
DOGA-merket for Architecture and Design, 2023
Scandinavian Design Awards for Architecture of the Year, 2023
DETAIL Reader's Choice Awards, 2022
Interior Design Magazine Best of Year Awards for Greater World Sustainability, 2022
COLLABORATORS
Bollinger+Grohmann
Gade & Mortensen
Nordic Architects AS
Asplan Viak
Erichsen og Horgen AS
Norconsult AS
Foyn Consult AS
Fokus Rådgivning
Multiconsult AS
ØM Fjeld AS
Woodcon AS
Reflex
Hallas AS
Loe VVS Prosjekt AS
Cowi AS
Fokus Rad AS
Melby Maskin AS
EMV Construction AS
YC ROR AS
Energima Prosjekt SA
Minel Elinstallasjon US
Solcellespesialisten AS
TKS Heiser AS
Bygganalyse AS
Evotek AS
