In 1947, Johs. Vestre, a former sailor and mechanical engineer, set up a small workshop in a former German barracks in Haugesund. Post-war Norway was short on materials and full of need. The first products were simple and functional: pipe constructions, saw clamps and park benches.

Those early benches and playground sets were the start of a bigger idea. Not just products, but places where people could sit down and meet. As Johs. put it: "We must constantly make things better for the society in which we and our descendants live, something which cannot be achieved through the constant pursuit of material goods."

That conviction has carried through three generations. The direction hasn't changed. Making places that bring people together, with materials that last.