Sandvikssågen: Transformation of a former sawmill through critical reuse and spatial reconfiguration

Abstract

Forest industries have shaped the landscapes of Norrland since the 19th century, leaving behind structures that still carry material and cultural traces of production. The mill town Holmsund developed in the archipelago outside of Umeå around the former sawmill Sandvikssågen. Even after its production ceased, its legacy of craftsmanship continues today in the form of workshops and ateliers. The building has undergone fragmented adaptations that constrain its current use. This thesis explores how industrial heritage can be reinterpreted to support contemporary craft practices and new public uses through reconfiguration of the existing. An investigation was conducted through photography, archival research, and drawings, resulting in an atlas of spatial qualities, material conditions, and reusable components; this became the toolbox for transformation. The findings are treated as active resources, used to reconstruct spaces from salvaged materials. Drawing from adaptive reuse theory and Stewart Brand’s notion of shearing layers, the building is understood as an evolving structure where permanent and temporary layers change independently. This informed a design strategy operating through critical removal, reconfiguration of building components, and the addition of new functions. Removal exposes concealed qualities, while reconfiguration repositions elements to form new spatial relationships. The building is reorganized into three main parts: a new café and common area open to the public, the former production halls accommodate a wood workshop on the ground floor with exhibition above, and the ateliers are updated with improved facilities. Circulation is reworked through two additional cores that support both public access and workshop use. The project argues that transformation is an active, interpretative process rather than a passive balance between preservation and replacement. By reworking existing structures through critical reuse, new spatial and programmatic relationships emerge without erasing material continuity. Industrial heritage is therefore not a fixed condition to be protected, but a resource that must be actively reconfigured to remain relevant.