Yllefabriken – Renovation gives new life to old factory grounds

With its beautiful exterior, the Yllefabriken in Norrköping is a reminder of Norrköping's heritage as an industrial city. Over the years, the building has had a number of different owners and tenants but has now been transformed and developed into a modern building with a range of uses. At the same time, the character of the building has been maintained and has been an important part of the project, with a focus on sustainability and preserving the old industrial heritage that the building represents. 

We talked to Freddy Franzén at FlexFasadia to learn how the work with Yllefabriken went, what difficulties have arisen during the project and how to deal with an old factory premises. 

Please tell us a little bit about the project and your work with Yllefabriken. 

We have carried out several stages of the project, where the first batch we manufactured and assembled was a 17 m high batch for a courtyard with a glass roof. It was challenging as we had to connect moulded loft passages through the section and it required a lot of lifting as the courtyard is very small.  

In the second part, we made all the entrances and interior parts of corridors in fire. We were also given the honor of manufacturing what were called terrace sections, uninsulated sections that would function as “orangery type” with manual sliding doors in the 2050 series. The third part consisted of several major adaptations to the basement of the house as it would be used for rental apartments.  

We have also just completed our last phase, called the low-rise building. It is a new production that connects to the old part and it was our first contact with Sapa 1086 Screen. We had great help from Mattias Jansson at Hydro who guided us on which profiles to use. 

Yllefabriken has a long history, with its walls almost bulging with the work of the past. What is it like to work with such an ancient building, to manage something old instead of building new? 

It is of course very fun to manage something that has such an exciting history. The challenges are great with such an old house, with dimensions that do not match the drawings, very oblique angles, and other things to take into account. Therefore, many solutions are specific to the project. There was always something new along the gay and we had to change profiles to fit as the work progressed. 

Were there any particular challenges with the project that stod out? 

In addition to the above-mentioned elements, the location of the building itself was a challenge in itself. The wool factory is located in the centre of Norrköping and the space around the building is very limited, and Motala Ström is only 1 m from the facade. So just having the space to fit everything and everyone where a challenge.   

Is there anything in the project you are particularly pleased with? 

It must probably be the courtyard. It´s in a complex location and offered a real challenge in terms of both in construction and design, the fact that the end result was so good shows what we can do and is something we are very proud of. 

SAPA costumer: FlexFasadia  

SAPA products: Door- and window partitions 1086/2086, Ambial doors & facade 4150  

Architect: White Arkitekter  

Photographer: Anders Ristenstrand