Héðinn’s first premises were at Aðalstræti 6, in a building constructed in 1895. The first industrial district of Reykjavík was at Aðalstræti. At first, the street was called Hovedgaden, later Adelsgaden, then Klubsgaden, but in 1848 it was given the name Aðalstræti. This photograph was taken in 1942. Photo / Reykjavík Museum of Photography.
Facilities and Workforce
Héðinn’s premises have changed greatly over the years. At the start, in 1922, the machine workshop had about 60 square meters of floor space at Aðalstræti 6b, but twenty years later, in 1942, the workshop had expanded to 489 square meters at Seljavegur 2. The space grew even further when the later famous Héðinn building was erected on the site.
The Héðinn Building on Seljavegur. Group photo taken around 1945 at Héðinn’s headquarters at Seljavegur 2. The building has always been associated with the company’s name. Photo: Sigurhans Vignir / Reykjavík Museum of Photography.
The Héðinn building was divided into departments according to tasks: A machine shop, a coppersmith’s shop, electric welding, mechanical repairs, refrigeration installations, and more. The northern part of the building (the tower section), however, was intended for offices, design studios, and machinery sales. In the year Héðinn turned thirty, 1952, the factory had 6,580 square meters of floor space at its disposal.
Járnsteypan and the Héðinn Building. Aerial view of Héðinn’s industrial area at Seljavegur. The buildings with the dark roofs surrounding the yard were the workshops. In the white wing to the right were offices on the upper floors, and in the round section at the far right was the famous Héðinn hall, used for gatherings. On the street level was the company store, which later also occupied another floor of the same building. Járnsteypan was housed in the white buildings to the left, closest to the sea. The tall building to the right served as the pattern shop and staff facilities. The building with many chimneys was the molding and casting hall. The buildings nearer to Seljavegur were used as storage and for other purposes. Photo: Author unknown / Héðinn.
As time went on, the premises at Seljavegur no longer suited the operations, and in 1989 they were moved to a building at Stórás 6 in Garðabær, where Héðinn had already run a branch for many years, known as Garða-Héðinn.
With the shift in focus in the 21st century, Héðinn once again needed a new industrial site. It was then decided to move the company’s headquarters from Garðabær to Hafnarfjörður, while Héðinn also operates a service workshop at Grundartangi in Hvalfjarðarsveit.
In February 2009, an inauguration ceremony was held in the new premises at Gjáhella 4 in Hafnarfjörður, which now covers seven thousand square meters on a thirty-thousand-square-meter site.
Héðinn’s workforce reached its peak in 1948, with 474 employees. The number of staff has fluctuated depending on projects, but is now around one hundred. That figure, however, tells only part of the story, since Héðinn has contracts with various subcontractors, and changing technological conditions and business environments have led to a very different kind of staffing than before.
Fire dryers in operation. These photos are from Alli the Rich’s factory in Eskifjörður in 1951 and show workers operating the fire dryers of the time. A turning point in Icelandic metalworking came in 1936, when the first herring factory built by an Icelandic machine workshop was constructed at Seyðisfjörður that summer.
The machine workshop Héðinn undertook the construction. Photos: Jón Oddsson / Héðinn
Deal with ‘Alli the Rich.’ From the signing of contracts for the fishmeal factory of the Eskifjörður Freezing Plant (HE) in 1967. From left: Geir Óskar Guðmundsson, chief engineer at Héðinn; Aðalsteinn Jónsson (Alli ríki), managing director of HE; Sveinn Guðmundsson (Sveinn í Héðni); Guðbjörn Guðjónsson; and Magnús Bjarnason, office manager of HE.
The latest technology. Centrifuges in the fully constructed fishmeal factory of the Eskifjörður Freezing Plant. Photos: Author unknown / Héðinn.
Héðinn for over 100 years
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