Furniture manufacturer Vestre is now opening the world's most environmentally friendly furniture factory, The Plus, at Magnor in Norway. Over 23 tonnes of Hydro CIRCAL low-carbon aluminium have been delivered for the project. Hydro CIRCAL consists of at least 75% recycled aluminium, from products that have already lived a long life as a soda can, car part or other material.
“The glass facades are specially developed for The Plus to ensure maximum transparency and the lowest possible energy consumption. The WICONA profiles that frame the glass are delivered using Hydro CIRCAL alloys,” says Frank Føleide, sales engineer at Hydro Building Systems.
The Plus aims to reduce energy needs by at least 90% compared to similar conventional factory buildings. With more than 2,000 square meters of glass facades – up to 14 meters high – there are extreme requirements for energy performance, insulation, thermal bridges and building physics in general.
Sustainability and inclusion have guided all aspects of the factory, from the design of working conditions to the facilitation of electrified heavy-duty transport and management of the surrounding forest areas. The factory aims to become a global showcase for sustainable and highly efficient production.
“We look forward to opening the doors to The Plus. This will be the people's factory. It will be a factory for the locals, Norwegians and the rest of the world. This is not only a big happening for Vestre, but also for mainland Norwegian industry and Scandinavian export cooperation,” says Stefan Tjust, CEO of Vestre.
The Plus has also used aluminium indoors. From Hydro's extrusion plant at Magnor, just a stone's throw away from Vestre's new factory, material has been delivered for the stair railings that architecturally connect the floors at The Plus.
“We are happy to be able to contribute to a project that is as future-oriented as Vestre’s The Plus. We have collaborated with Vestre for many years already, including the furniture series "Folk", and we look forward to now having the world's most environmentally friendly furniture factory as a neighbor at Magnor,” says Morten Bråten, Managing Director at Hydro Magnor.
For a number of years, Vestre has supplied sustainable outdoor furniture all over the world. For more than 70 years, the furniture manufacturer has created social meeting places for millions of people. The company has grown to become Europe's largest outdoor furniture manufacturer and is known for climate-friendly production, durable products and Nordic design. Through its products, Vestre contributes to creating social meeting places and arenas.
Vestre uses a lot of aluminium in its furniture production and has furnished Aker Brygge in Oslo, Times Square in New York, Forum Des Halles in Paris, Hornsberg Strandpark in Stockholm, the Danish Architecture Center in Copenhagen and King’s Cross in London.
The Plus is the largest investment in the Norwegian furniture industry in decades. Vestre's goal is to make the factory a global showcase for sustainable and highly efficient production. Spectacular architecture, a visitor center and a 300-acre experience park will also help to develop the furniture factory at Magnor into an attractive destination for visitors from all over the world. The Plus has at least 55% lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to a similar conventional factory.
Hydro CIRCAL® is Hydro’s proprietary brand of recycled aluminium made with a minimum of 75% recycled, post-consumer aluminium scrap, certified by third-party auditors DNV GL, and has a market-leading CO2 footprint of just 2.3 kg CO2e/kg aluminium or less.
Through advanced sorting technology, Hydro is able to create advanced materials with the highest post-consumer recycled content in the market. As a result, Hydro drastically reduces energy use in the production phase while still offering high-quality aluminium with equivalent metallurgical properties that maintain the strong material and corrosion resistance needed in automotive components.
Published: June 3, 2022
