How a bench and a factory can change the world

everything

is possible for the lord almighty and a

mechanic

that was a humorous mantra when my

grandfather established a small

mechanical workshop

on the norwegian west coast right after

second world war

it started simply small mechanical

products turned into playground

equipment

park benches and even a fully automatic

fish cake making machine

now more than seven years later we’re

not making fish cake machines anymore

but we have become one of europe’s

leading brands for social furniture

and believe it or not our mission is not

to sell as many products

as possible our mission is to change the

world

one neighborhood at the time you might

wonder what that means so please let me

explain

the world is getting more and more

polarized we see

tendencies towards more conflicts and

less cohesion

more antagonism and less trust and there

are strong forces out there

trying to divide us instead of bringing

us together

it is never a good idea to categorize

people as us

and them we know too well from our own

history what that might lead to

so what we should do is create more

caring meeting places around the world

places where people can sit down

together share life stories

ideas and get to know each other places

where we can build mutual trust and

respect

places where we can celebrate our

beautiful diversity

and foster inclusion we call these

arenas for everyday democracy

and creating and protecting these arenas

is actually one of the most

important tasks in the world today

in scandinavia we have a concept called

al-manson

this is best translated to a public

access right

or the freedom to roam it basically

means that the outdoors

belongs to everyone isn’t that a lovely

concept

the right is not just regulated by law

it’s also an

important part of our cultural dna and

since this is so important

to estrella we refuse to be involved in

any project

with the opposite purpose for instance

hostile designs yes you have seen them

public benches with spikes and other

obstacles

designed to keep homeless people away

from our streets

and out of our public spaces when we are

asked to produce such benches and

believe me we have

we are always saying no simply

because it’s not democratic to have

spikes in the city

if we have created a society where

people can’t afford a proper place to

live

that’s actually something that must be

dealt with by political reforms

not by spikes a better future

is possible we can solve this together

if we are willing to share resources

more fairly than today but i will tell

you this

it’s not my job to produce benches

designed to cover for basic injustices

in our

societies i simply don’t want to make

money on things that are wrong

and hostile designs are never right

so our mission does not stop here

building more inclusive societies is

just one of the major issues we must

deal with today

another huge task we have is to solve

the climate crisis

and prevent further loss of nature and

biodiversity before it’s too late

the industrial revolutions brought

enormous positive changes

technologically economically and

socially but not without a very

high price the repairable damage to

nature

biodiversity and man-made climate change

brought on by our industrial

achievements is itself an increasingly

catastrophic threat

to the very progress we’ve made together

the good news friends is that there is a

way to fix

this problem and here is what we can do

first of all we need to accelerate the

shift towards renewable energy

renewable energy is now in many cases

cheaper than coal and other fossil fuels

this is great news since we want to

reduce the carbon emissions fast

and at the same time create millions of

new jobs

in the renewable sector and a positive

effect is that we get cleaner air in the

cities

as well second the throwaway society

must

end now we need to make products with a

long lifespan things that can be

repaired and restored

products designed for a circular economy

where waste in the traditional sense

doesn’t exist anymore

because almost everything can be

recycled and reused

truthfully it’s not that difficult

believe me

if you travel around norway even close

to the harsh and salty north sea

you will find western furniture from the

50s and the 60s still out there

being enjoyed every day so

let’s start by banning products designed

to have

a short lifespan and third

the push for new products all the time

must end

do we actually need new furniture every

five years

i don’t think so it should last for 30

years at least

and if you get tired of the design well

you should be able to send it back to

the factory

have it refurbished maybe get a new

color so it continues the journey

with you or with someone else

if we can share things change things

rebuild things

and maybe even rent things instead of

buying new things

all the time we will reduce our

consumption and our environmental

impact significantly

at westrep we still believe that

everything

is possible that is why we want to take

sustainability to the next level right

now

we are building the most environmentally

friendly furniture factory

in the world we call it the plus

the plus is located in a magnor a small

village one and a half hours from oslo

in norway

and it is designed by bjarky ingles and

his team of excellent designers from all

over the world

at big architects together we have

created an

entirely new typology where people

production technology

and nature are completely integrated

with each other

the plus is the first ever furniture

factory that meets the highest brim

outstanding environmental certification

and as far as i know we are the first

ever

paris proof furniture factory meaning we

will not only meet the climate targets

in the paris agreement

we’re actually over fulfilling the

agreement by reducing our emissions

by more than 50 percent compared to a

similar

new factory building the plus runs on

100 renewable energy and has a very

advanced

energy system with solar panels heat

exchangers

and geothermal energy wells that will

reduce

our supplied energy need by more than 90

percent

compared to similar new factory building

the factory itself is made from locally

sourced sustainable glue lamb and cross

laminated timber love carbon concrete

and recycled reinforcement steel

the construction site is fossil free and

emission free

as we will utilize electric excavators

and machines

running on latest generation biofuel

the plus will also reuse up to 95

percent of the processed water

and replace traditional chemicals with

new eco-friendly

alternatives originally the municipality

was planning for a massive industrial

development for the site

instead along came the plus

a building whose key objective is to

make its footprint as small

as possible the building has been

positioned at the edge of what is today

a productive pine forest

and the remaining area around 95 of the

site

is now being preserved on nature’s own

premises

biodiversity will be enhanced by

allowing the forest surrounding the

woodland to grow wild

without any forest management which

remove animals

hiding places and sources of food many

nesting boxes will

also be put up to ensure that cavity

nesting birds have a place

to lay their eggs and to further improve

the biodiversity we will cover the

factory’s

roof with natural vegetation which

corresponds as

closely as possible to that which is

currently growing around us

the factory will have its own production

flow for refurbishment of old furniture

all products leaving the plus will be

circular

some for the first time others have been

manufactured many years ago

and are now refurbished we will not

manufacture

anything that isn’t intended to last

forever

and this concept which we call west

revision zero

could reduce our use of resources by

more than eighty

percent the plus isn’t only the most

environmentally friendly furniture

factory

in the world it’s probably the most

democratic

and transparent factory in the world as

well

here are no fences or closed off areas

the plus is actually a tribute to allah

the freedom to roam everyone is invited

to watch the manufacturing

through the factory’s large windows

whenever they want

the public can even bring their tent and

access our rooftop

24 7. i mean can you

imagine anything more romantic than

sharing a kiss

with a special someone standing atop the

most environmentally friendly furniture

factory in the world

surrounded by spectacular architecture

and a magical forest

i count my goal is actually for the plus

to be named as a must-see destination

on tripadvisor and i’m pretty sure we

will get there with a combination of

groundbreaking design

and super cool industry 4.0 technology

such as self-teaching robots autonomous

forklifts

and tesla electric semi trucks the

beautiful forest surrounding the factory

and a 75 acre experience park with

art installations poetry playgrounds and

other excitement for the whole family to

enjoy

will sure be a marvel to see

some people ask me why are you doing the

biggest investment in the norwegian

furniture

industry for decades in the middle of a

pandemic and the worst recession

since the 30s my response is

that there’s no time better than now and

this

can simply not wait we want to show the

world

that it is possible to solve the climate

crisis

protect and restore nature and

biodiversity

and at the same time create new

enjoyable and profitable jobs

if westridge can so can others there is

too much

talk about the green shift today i want

to see more and real

action and i want to contribute to a

less polarized debate about these issues

by bridging the gap between climate

activists and people

concerned about our economy

friends it all comes down to this

what responsibility do private companies

have

is it enough to be profitable create

jobs and pay taxes

no it’s a good start but people should

actually expect more from us

we should be the front runners in the

green shift

we should stop earning money on things

that are bad for people

or bad for the planet we can do better

than before yes we can decouple economic

growth

from emissions and create a real

sustainable future

and we can treat both people and planet

with respect

and decency without exploiting anyone

yes we can do it if we work together

and unleash the best of our creative

abilities

i started by saying that everything is

possible for the lord almighty and a

mechanic

and i would like to add for everyone

keen to make the world a better place

too

if a bench or even a factory can change

the world

so can you you are all invited to visit

the plus when we open

next year but first let us get more

people on board

this movement for change thank you for

your attention

you