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Intarsia on the ICU – Emma Löfström’s wall work at Falu University hospital
Photo Sara Danielsson
GLOBAL
ICU FALU LASARETT
The River of Dalarna Runs Through the ICU
The intensive care unit is one of the most central parts of Dalarna’s university hospital. The stairwell connecting the ward’s two floors is a passage in constant motion. Staff, patients, and relatives pass through here at all hours. Artist Emma Löfström was commissioned by Region Dalarna to give this space a presence: a wall that would be felt without demanding attention, and that would endure for everyone who finds themselves here.
THE ARTIST
Emma Löfström
The commission went to Emma Löfström, an artist whose specialism is intarsia and whose practice is rooted in the natural world. For the ICU, it meant working at a scale she had not taken on before – approximately thirty square metres and twelve panels in one of the hospital’s most central rooms.
Seamless across 30 square metres
Allowing a motif to run seamlessly across twelve separate panels places extraordinarily high demands on precision in both manufacture and installation. Every piece of veneer was vectorised for an exact fit, and our veneer craftsmen joined the different veneers into large sheets that were fed through the cutting machine. Emma’s team of three then worked closely alongside the Gustafs team to assemble all the components into continuous veneer sheets, which were then shaped panel by panel. From manufacture at the factory to installation on site, the entire process remained within Gustafs, giving unusual control over both precision and the final result. The smallest deviation would have broken the flow of the motif and there is no margin for error in a pattern that runs across thirty square metres.
OAK WHITE
The architects at Arkitema had chosen white-pigmented oak as the primary material in the ward’s interior. The intarsia panels are made in the same timber species and finish, with the background in Gemini Oak White – a veneer with a consistent, pale surface that gives the intarsia motif a still, clean ground to work against, like a blank page with no competition from the wood’s natural variation. The artwork grows from the room rather than sitting on it. The timber is not merely a substrate; it is an active part of the motif.
Fire safety and hospital environments
The panels meet fire safety class A2-s1,d0 the highest possible classification and are suited to the demands of safety, durability, and cleanability that an intensive care ward requires. The artwork is not an addition to the wall. It is an integral part of the interior from the ground up.
Oncology and Radiology
This work is part of a larger art commission at Falu lasarett, ordered by Region Dalarna. Artist Patrik Lundborg simultaneously created works for the waiting rooms and corridors of the Radiology and Oncology wards intarsia with its own distinct visual language of stones, mountains, and metal inlays that move with the light.
INSTALLATION
Montage
A panel crafted to millimetre precision deserves an installation carried out in the same spirit. It was Gustafs’ own installation team who fitted the panels on site, bringing the same expertise and the same standards that had run through the entire project. From the first cutting file to the last fixing, the work remained in Gustafs’ hands throughout.
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