The 136-m long, relatively narrow factory building for currently about 40 employees, is located on the site of a former foundry within walking distance of the city centre. It was designed by an interdisciplinary team, which as well as the architects, structural engineers and building services planners, also included yacht designer Martin Francis. A total of 16 saw-tooth north-light roofs bring daylight into the factory hall, while two panorama windows at the ends of the buildings offer views outside. The open central area of the hall is designed not only for the final assembly and dispatch of the furniture, but also as a cafeteria and events venue. The loading bays for trucks, the company archives, a kitchen as well as four guest rooms and a caretaker's apartment are all accommodated in the bays of the side aisles, some of which have two levels. Slender posts and beams made of beech laminated veneer timber form the factory's primary structural system, while steel sections were used for the secondary beams in the saw-tooth roofs. Due to its greater strength, to handle tension and compression stress beech veneer laminated timber requires around 60 % less material than pine glulam.
The posts have chamfered edges in the lower part to make them less vulnerable to impact damage. The grooves running up the middle of each face of the posts can be used as open cable ducts or to connect partition walls. A cable duct with a plywood cover is also integrated in the floor slab along each structural axis. The closed surfaces of the roof and walls consist of cross laminated timber in different thicknesses with the insulation fixed to the outer face, while the facades are clad with large fibre cement panels. To avoid having to use pile foundations, the ground was consolidated to a depth of 2.5 - 3.5 metres by the addition of lime cement. The hall has underfloor heating, but no active cooling or mechanical ventilation. The windows that can be opened manually and the motor-controlled roof lights should ensure the necessary air exchange rate.
