Raw Iron and Raw Strength at the Last Iron Foundry on Zealand

The furnace rotates 90 degrees, and the iron flows in a steady, heavy stream into the ladle. To an outsider, it looks like a scene straight out of Star Wars. Sparks shoot through the room like New Year’s fireworks, and you almost hear the dystopian tones of the Imperial March as the molten mass hits the ladle.

Klaus steps back for a moment’s breather. With his forearm, he wipes the sweat from his brow without removing the thick gloves.

He’s had hot iron splash into his eye once, he tells us, causing an injury. But it doesn’t seem to faze him now – physically or mentally.

It’s obvious Klaus has spent a decade at the foundry. He isn’t afraid of the material, and he enjoys the demanding physical work. Lifting several tons over the course of a workday is nothing unusual.

»At least I don’t have to go to the gym after work,« he says with a smile.

Klaus Hyrland is a trained mold maker and has worked for over ten years at the company, which supplies cast-iron furnishings for urban spaces. As a mold maker, he specializes in producing and assembling molds for metal casting.

»Not many people know what I actually do. If I say I’m a mold maker, only a few understand what it means. It’s a dying craft because machines are slowly taking over,« he explains.

Although machines can 3D-scan products and create perfect copies for molds, Klaus has a special feel for the material – especially when crafting custom, nonstandard solutions.

Casting History

Whether you stroll through Opera Park in Copenhagen, sit on the benches at Kongens Nytorv, walk down the pedestrian street in Horsens, or follow the path along the Wave in Vejle, chances are you’ve encountered projects Klaus has helped cast. Benches, drainage grates, lighting fixtures, and planters in cast iron—they’re everywhere in Danish public spaces.

In 2019, Klaus Hyrland was tasked with renovating the historic benches that form a circle around Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. It was a particularly meaningful job for him, as it allowed him to use his craft expertise in full.

»I took the old benches back to the workshop and got to create two new ones. It was great fun because they were so old – there was no existing model. The benches have lots of contours, which makes them more challenging to mold,« Klaus says.

The benches carry a special history and unique details that Klaus was entrusted to preserve. In doing so, he helped maintain a piece of Danish heritage dating back to 1670, when Kongens Nytorv was laid out by King Christian V.

»A lot of what we’ve made is out there in cities across Denmark, so it can be annoying for people when I keep saying: ‘Look, I helped make that too,’« Klaus laughs – and admits he still hasn’t visited Kongens Nytorv to see the restored benches in their new glory.

A Master of Precision

When the molten iron has filled the ladle, it’s lifted over to a production line where the molds are lined up. Klaus stands on a platform and controls the angle of the ladle. With his thumb, he switches between the up and down buttons, eyes locked on the molds below. The red-hot mass flows into them one by one.

It’s precision work of the highest degree: too much, and it spills over; too little, and the mold won’t fill.

»You have to be extremely focused while casting. You’re working with a very hot material that needs to be poured precisely. You have to keep the pace up. It’s molten iron, so you can’t drift off – otherwise you’ll pour it everywhere,« Klaus Hyrland says.

Working with heavy metals demands both physical and mental strength.

»It can get a bit monotonous casting for four or five hours straight, so I like the variation between casting, mold work, and sanding,« he explains.

Casting is the art of repetition without losing focus. Whether it’s mold number one or mold number five hundred, Klaus must stay sharp. And it’s tough physical labor. Earlier in his career, much more of the work was done by hand. His first job after training was at a foundry where he made molds for artists’ sculptures – a process that involves filling a box with sand and compacting it.

»I like that my job is physically demanding. I want a combination where I’m both physically challenged and professionally challenged so I can keep improving,« Klaus Hyrland says.

Close Collaboration with Designers and Architects

Collaboration with designers and architects has been crucial to the company’s success.

While the casting continues in the workshop, Christian Wolff Petersen – owner of GH Form and FerroFoss – gives a tour of the adjacent storage building, where rows of finished products stand: the classic Copenhagen bench, rainwater grates, and custom-designed solutions for brands like Tivoli, Carlsberg, and Danske Bank. He runs his hand over the raw, brown cast iron, which gets its characteristic finish when it comes into contact with water.

»I don’t have strong opinions about how the products should look – I leave that to the experts. Over the years, we’ve developed products together with Arne Jacobsen, Nanna Ditzel, and Knud Holcher, just to name a few. I don’t think you get far by only making cast-iron furnishings. You also need good design behind it,« Christian Wolff Petersen says.

Back in the workshop, large crates are filled with so-called lokbrikker – scrap pieces from perforated steel plates. They’re melted down and given new life. What once were leftovers become benches, lamps, trash bins, and planters familiar from public spaces across the country.

The short transport distance also offers a significant environmental benefit.

»If we deliver products for a project in Copenhagen, the raw material is just 40 km away – the scrap pieces from Ballerup. They travel 42 km to FerroFoss for casting, and then about 55 km back to Copenhagen as finished products,« Christian Wolff Petersen explains.

The last drops from the ladle are poured, and on the other side of the line, square tiles emerge with shiny silver guide strips – one step closer to becoming part of the public realm.