Making the Plus

Industrial factories are major contributors to air pollution, toxic spills, and the emission of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Manufacturing remains critically important to both the developing and the advanced world, but it must change. Fast. In 2020, the Norwegian design furniture manufacturer Vestre decided to prove that another future of industrial production is possible. Together with the Danish architects of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) they worked out plans for a green factory while preserving the surrounding recreational Norwegian forests: The Plus. The wooden building has been planned to achieve the world's highest sustainability rating, BREEAM Outstanding, as well as to be a public space, a destination for people to visit and enjoy. Thus began a challenging yet exciting journey toward building "the world's most environmentally friendly furniture factory." Making The Plus takes readers through the construction process of the world's most environmentally friendly furniture factory, documented from the very beginning by renowned photographer Einar Aslaksen. It also broadens our view on how architecture, industry, nature, and public space must be completely intertwined in our move toward a sustainable future. It aims to be a manifesto for the "green shift." VESTRE is an Oslo-based urban furniture maker with offices all over the world. For more than 75 years, the family-owned company has been driven by the mission to create social and caring public meeting places for millions of people. It is committed to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.