The Plus | BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

Save
The Plus | BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

Information

  • Completion year: 2022
  • Gross Built up Area: 7000 sqm
  • Project Location: Gaustadvegen, Magnor
  • Country: Norway
  • Lead Architects/Designer: Bjarke Ingels, David Zahle, Ole Elkjær-Larsen
  • Design Team: Agnieszka Wardzinska, Ákos Márk Horváth, Ariana Szmedra, Cheng-Huang Lin, Claudia Bertolotti, Eduardo Javier Sosa Trevino, Eva Seo-Andersen, Ewa Zapiec, Filip Fot, Frederik Skou Jensen, Jenna Kaisa Hukkinen, Jonas Høgh Rask, Julia Novaes Tabet, Julien Bernard, Jacques Picard, Julius Victor Schneevoigt, Ksenia Zhitomirskaya, Luca Pileri, Magni Waltersson, Nanna Gyldholm Møller, Neringa Jurkonyte, Ningnan Ye, Palita Tungjaroen, Rron Bexheti, Steen Kortbæk Svendsen, Thor Larsen-Lechuga, Tobias Hjor
  • Clients: Vestre
  • Engineering: Andrea Hektor, Andrew Robert Coward, Duncan Horswill, Andreas Bak, Edward Durie, Bjarke Koch-Ørvad, Cecilie Søs Brandt-Olsen, Jesper Kanstrup Petersen, Sui King Yu, Tristan Robert Harvey, Miles Treacy, Kaoan Hengles De Lima Local engineer: Bollinger+Grohmann
  • MEP Consultants: Mechanical engineer: Erichsen og Horgen, Electrical engineer: Foyn Rådgivning
  • Landscape Consultants: Giulia Frittoli , Ulla Hornsyld, Ariana Ribas, Marcel Götz, Anne Katrine Sandstrøm, Camille Inès Sophie Breuil
  • Contractors: ØM Fjeld
  • Project Manager: Fokus Rådgivning, Project Leader: Viktoria Millentrup, Eva Seo-Andersen, Tommy Bjørnstrup
  • Photo Credits: Einar Aslaksen
  • Video Credits: Vestre_Jo-Bergersen-Fjuz
  • Others: Acoustic consultant: Gade & Mortensen, BREEAM Certification: Nordic Architects, Ecologist: Asplan Viak, Energy calculations: Erichsen og Horgen, Building Physics consultant: Norconsult, Fire consultant: Fokus Rådgivning, Geotechnical consultant: Multiconsult, CLT contractor: Woodcon, Façade contractor: Reflex, Sustainability: Tore Banke, Alexander Matthias Jacobson, Frederic Lucien Engasser, Katrine Juul
More Info Less Info

Excerpt: BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group designed a Sustainable certified structure The Plus – a hybrid of a transparent and open production facility, a public park, and a literal green forest landmark for the manufacturing industry of Norway.

Project Description

The Plus | Bjarke Ingels Group
© Einar Aslaksen

[Text as submitted by architect] Norwegian furniture manufacturer Vestre and BIG reveal THE PLUS – a new furniture factory, visitor center, and 300-acre explorable forest. The colorful manufacturing village is dedicated to the cleanest, carbon-neutral fabrication of urban furniture, leading the way for manufacturing facilities and high-efficiency production of the future.

The Plus | Bjarke Ingels Group
Site Plan © Bjarke Ingels Group

Norway’s single largest investment in furniture industry in decades, the 7,000 m2 production facility 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. 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 Plus | Bjarke Ingels Group
© Bjarke Ingels Group

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 the 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.

The Plus | Bjarke Ingels Group
© Bjarke Ingels Group

“Together with Vestre, we have imagined a factory that puts the entire process of furniture-making on open display – at center stage. Rather than fearing industrial espionage, the factory wants to show and share their knowledge to help accelerate the global transition towards sustainable manufacturing. Constructed from locally-sourced timber and running on local hydropower, the beauty of The Plus is in the clarity of its organization. Conceived as the intersection of a road and a production line, it forms a big plus shape that connects all aspects of manufacturing. 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.” says Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner and Creative Director, BIG.

The Plus | Bjarke Ingels Group
© Einar Aslaksen

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 and changed according to the changing seasons. The courtyard doubles as a panopticon for visitors and staff to fully experience the factory’s production processes.

The Plus | Bjarke Ingels Group
© Einar Aslaksen

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 meter free-spanning, cross-laminated timber, creating flexible column free-spaces. 

The Plus | Bjarke Ingels Group
© Einar Aslaksen

From all four sides of the buildings, visitors and staff will be invited to hike around the facility and end their walk on the green roof terrace.  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.

The Plus | Bjarke Ingels Group
© Einar Aslaksen

On the rooftop, 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, electric vehicles and much else contribute to a 90% lower energy demand than that of a conventional factory. 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.

The Plus | Bjarke Ingels Group
© Einar Aslaksen

The Plus Facts:  

  • The Plus will generate 50% less greenhouse gas emissions than a conventional factory. The factory has an efficiency rating of A+ and the building will generate around 250,000 kWh of renewable energy per year. Vestre will use 100% electric vehicles for transportation.
      
  • The Plus is set to become the first project of its kind in the world to achieve the very highest environmental BREEAM rating – the ‘Outstanding’ classification. An ‘Outstanding’ building is defined as an international innovator. In theory, less than 1 per cent of all new non-domestic buildings will achieve this extremely high level. There are currently no industrial projects in the Nordic region that are close to qualifying as Outstanding. Through this project, Vestre aims to prove that industrial projects can also be global innovators in the environmental field.
      
  • All materials are carefully chosen by their environmental impact, with the facade 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 AS eco-friendly production, such as ensuring a minimum of 50% lower greenhouse gas emissions than comparable factories.
  • The building meets requirements for a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from new buildings materials compared to a reference building and achieves with it the 2point.
  • The building meets the FutureBuilt ZERO criteria for low-emission buildings. As such, the building can be said to be in accordance with Norway’s obligations in The Paris Agreement.
The Plus | Bjarke Ingels Group
© Einar Aslaksen

Leave a Reply