Qvarnen Tre Kronor

In 1897, flour importer Carl August Engström founded Qvarnen Tre Kronor on an artificial island—artificial because it was created by blasting 14,000 cubic meters of rock from a mountain, then using the stone to move out the shoreline and make room for a factory and harbor area along Sweden’s Saltsjön inlet.

This mammoth brick beast, topped by three glistening crowns (or tre kronor, the national emblem of Sweden), soon came to be respected as an architectural treasure and the most modern mill facility in Scandinavia.

Qvarnen Tre Kronor served as the hub of Sweden’s baking business for nearly a century. Along the way it changed hands and continued growing, adding new buildings, mills, and silos that broadened its overall capabilities.

Most recently, many of the structures have been creatively repurposed into residences. But the building’s facade has changed very little, with much care taken to ensure it retains its considerable historical charm which is anything but run-of-the-mill.

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