Verkstaden

Torkhuset, Sävar.

A 1947 timber-drying shed at the old Sävar sawmill, 1 240 m², with a roof built to move warm air — which turns out to be exactly what a room full of printers wants. 38 machines, 14 people, eighteen kilometres north of Umeå.

The hall at 02:00. Thirty-eight STAV 1100 machines; the ones that started on Monday will finish some time on Tuesday.

Nothing here is stocked

An order arrives, the file goes to whichever machine is free, and the shade is printed. There is no warehouse because there is nothing to warehouse: a SPIRA is fourteen hours of machine time and 785 grams of granulate, and neither of those is worth committing to a guess about what will sell.

It also means the range can change without writing anything off. When Elin redrew the MOLN profile in 2023 — the bulge moved 40 mm lower — the old one stopped existing that afternoon. There were no thirty moulded shades in a box to get rid of, because there is no mould.

Two people run the floor across the two shifts, one does finishing and assembly, and the machines run through the night unattended. On a normal week the hall makes between forty and sixty shades.

BuildingTorkhuset, 1947

Floor1 240 m²

Machines38 × STAV 1100

Staff14

Shifts06–14, 14–22, then unattended

Output40–60 shades a week

Longest printTJÄLE at 16 h 00 m

Heatdistrict heating from Sävar

Powerhydro, Umeälven

The Torkhuset from outside, in snow, at the blue hour — Outside, 14:30 in January. The building faces north-east, which is why the shutters are on the other side.

Macro of the brass nozzle laying a single line on to the top edge of a shade wall — The nozzle, 0.8 mm, laying the wall it is standing on. It has been doing this for six hours at this point.

Spruce forest outside Sävar in winter — The thinnings four kilometres away become the 22 % that makes the light scatter.

Come and see it

The works is not a showroom and there is nowhere to sit, but if you are in Umeå and you want to watch a metre-tall shade being printed, write and we will find an hour. The studio on Rådhusesplanaden has all ten lamps lit and is open without an appointment.

Rådhusesplanaden 11, 903 28 Umeå
Tis–fre 11–18, lör 11–15

Get in touch

The Ljusverk studio on Rådhusesplanaden in Umeå, all ten lamps lit — Rådhusesplanaden 11. Ten lamps, one dimmer, and a very dark room.