Norwegian furniture manufacturer Vestre and BIG architects have recently completed THE PLUS, a furniture factory, experience centre and 300-acre public park. The colourful manufacturing village is committed to the carbon-neutral fabrication of urban furniture, paving the way for manufacturing facilities.

The 7,000sq m project was constructed in 18 months and hopes to align with the region’s mission to establish a green manufacturing hub near the village of Magnor on the Swedish border. The building is made of local mass timber, low-carbon concrete and recycled steel. It may also become the first industrial building to achieve the highest environmental BREEAM Outstanding rating.

Conceived as an array of four main production halls – a warehouse, colour factory, wood factory and assembly site – that connect at the centre to create a “plus” shape, the layout enables a flexible and transparent workflow between the manufacturing units. Like a flowchart, the entire interior is organised with the colour of each machine overflowing to the floors.

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