Who are we?
Fellesverkstedet is a non-profit organisation with a single purpose: to provide artists, self-employed individuals, and other creatives with access to a professional means for production.
We're located in Grünerløkka, within our own factory that has been meticulously restored and customized for our unique operations. Inside, you'll find a woodshop, a spacious production hall, a printshop, a digital department, and an upcoming metal workshop. Each department is managed by skilled technicians who are ready to share their expertise and assist our users with their projects. What we offer is not just machines and tools; it's invaluable experience and knowledge to help people bring their ideas to life.
Every year, we facilitate over 600 productions. Our users range from artists, designers, and architects to carpenters and hobbyists - spanning a wide spectrum of creative individuals. What they produce at Fellesverkstedet is all around you in your daily life, whether it's a sculpture in a park, the interior of your favorite bar, the product in your hand, posters for a concert, an architectural model for a building, or the art in a gallery.
Fellesverkstedet was founded by passionate individuals from the realms of art and design who have dedicated their lives to enhancing the conditions for production and supporting those who make a living through creative work. Instead of everyone working in isolation, we envisioned a more sustainable solution where equipment, space, and knowledge are shared, enabling access to professional means of production and knowledge, irrespective of one's background or financial means.
To make this vision a reality, we rely on support from both public and private sources. We are profoundly grateful to our partners who make our mission possible. Check out the list below!
Staff
Tonje Lona Eriksen
Tonje is our newest colleague and will be managing the printshop while Erling is on leave. She goes to great lengths to ensure a sense of achivement for our users, and approaches them with curiosity and openness in their creative endeavors.
Tonje is a talented graphic designer with a Master's degree from Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo, and she has a special passion for the art of screen printing. When she's not with us, she works with Blekksprut'n Risotrykkeri, where she is a part-owner, as well as with the work collective Bergljot & Co.
Matthew Roach
Matthew co-manages the digital manufacturing with Jack and Siemen. Matthew's a true people person, and will always greet you with a smile - and sincere curiosity for your project.
For years he's been a central instigator at Bitraf, one of Oslos largest makerspaces. He’ll always go the extra mile to help our users realise their projects, whether it be based on design, milling, laser-cutting or simply assembling the final piece.
Outside of Fellesverkstedet, Matthew is working on opening his own clubbing-gym. He’s probably the most active guy you’ll ever meet - in other words, he’ll give you a hand with your material!
Jack Hughes
Jack co-manages digital manufacturing together with Siemen and Matthew. He’s like, the nicest guy, and bends over backwards helping our users get to grips with digital production. He’s originally from Ireland, but has been living in Oslo since 2017. He trained as an architect at Glasgow School of Art and AHO.
When he is not with us, Jack runs MakersHub together with his business partner Else and a whole load of volunteers, designing and making the world a better place. This is a man of many talents, even making music (Get him to play some tunes!). We love Jack!
David Slotvik
David runs the woodshop (he’s wicked with wood!) but he’s also the glue that holds us all together. Multi talented, he knows every machine in the workshop and can turn his hand to pretty much anything. Whether it be managing our logistics, keeping our machines running, making improvements to our facilities or simply giving everyone a helping hand, David keeps us rolling! We should probably also mention he’s obsessed with Frisbee golf!
Christina Stensland Olsen
Christina runs front of house and manages our communication. She’s the first face most will meet and she’s just great. Don’t be fooled by that smile, she’s from up North, pretty hardcore, and is super smart! Christina's from the realm of Hamsun and can a thing about words and books, her background is in literature and when not with us, she's working freelance in the literary field. Christina keeps us on the straight and narrow, and makes order out of chaos, without her we’d just be bouncing our heads off the walls!
Erling Knudsen
Erling co-manages the print workshop alongside Renate and has been our in-house graphic designer from the very beginning. Erling is both highly skilled as artist and designer - this guy knows print!
As one of the founding fathers of Fellesverkstedet, he launched and ran the workshop's first incarnation, the silkscreen studio Automaton, together with Graham. He has been a crucial driving force from before Fellesverkstedets infancy, building it strategically and patiently over time.
Erling split his time for several years between Barcelona and Oslo but is now settled back in Oslo. When he's not with us or working on one of his projects, such as publishing artist books on Armadillo, he works as a freelance illustrator and does commisioned printing for a wide range of artists.
Siemen Cuypers
Siemen co-manages digital manufacturing together with Jack and Matthew. He is a talented product designer with a Master of Art from Luca School of Art in Gent, Belgium. To our great fortune he moved from Belgium to Norway in 2015, and learned norwegian in no-time. With his friendly and calm attitude, he makes the users feel comfortable handling the CNC-mill. Siemen is a You've-got-this kind of guy.
When he is not here, he does freelance work spanning product design, CNC production and digital modelling. Siemen was involved in producing furniture for Biblo Tøyen, Deichmanske Bibliotek Grünlerløkka and Teknisk Museum. He is also an authorized Rhino-trainer (the program, not the animal), so if you're just getting started with 3D-modelling, you'll be in good hands.
Graham Hayward
The heart and soul of the entire organisation. Fellesverkstedet started with Graham having a crazy dream, but to our benefit, Graham makes dreams come true – on a large scale! He aspires to know everything, what he doesn’t know, he learns.
He's been working tirelessly and fearlessly for more than a decade, whether it be by helping users on the workshop floor, lobbying for funding or developing our organisational model. Starting with the screen-print initiative Automaton with Erling, then the pilot project in Grønland and now the establishment of Fellesverkstedet in Seilduksgata, our managing director inspires the staff and users to not just dream, but do so big! His contagious attitude fuels our organisation – and way beyond.
Graham is originally from Birmingham in the UK and studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, and has been living in Norway since 2005. Right now he’s also building a house with his family on Nesodden. You see: Graham rarely sits still!
2011
Year established
3000+
Projects completed
The story so far
Grass roots, non-profit, blood, sweat and tears…
a collective effort towards a dream.
How did we arrive at where we are today? It started with a group of friends. We borrowed an empty, run down factory, we had some basic tools and a really simple concept: Wouldn't it be great if there was a place to go that had the stuff you need, where you could make almost anything. A community in the making started putting in a formidable amount of volunteer work. Then we just opened the doors to everyone and said let's go.
Over the course of the last 12 years we've reacted to what our users have asked for, we've bought equipment according to people's needs and we've been around the world looking at different concepts and learning new production techniques. We focus on giving access to quality tools, guidance and infrastructure. But we don't curate who gets to use what. If you want to make something, we want to help you make it.
Stability and reliability are a key challenge in a fast-growing city like Oslo. Like many others we've also felt the pains of eviction many times while trying to stand-up straight on our own feet. From the start in 2011 our mission has been to create a stable, long-term, production space in the city centre. Our new facility is a huge step forward and marks the start of a new chapter in the story of Fellesverkstedet.
Partners
We couldn't do what we do without the incredible support we receive from our partners and sponsors. They make the impossible possible!
