Åström 2000 office spaces are located in the former Åström Brothers’ leather factory. The building as well as the surroundings radiate the history of the Åström Brothers’ leather factory as the most successful factory in Northern Finland.

The history of the factory building begins all the way back in 1907, when it was finished. It was designed by Karl Sandelin, and later in 1922, Birger Federley designed a third floor to expand Sandelin’s design.

Led by Karl Robert and marketed by Hemming, the Åströms’ leather factory climbed to be not only Oulu’s but the whole of Northern Europe’s largest institution in the field. The products the factory manufactured were mostly transported to Russia, but there was also shipment to southern Finland, Sweden, and the Baltic, Germany. In the 1910s, the Åström’s leather factory had up to 1,500 employees, which was nearly 10% of Oulu’s population at the time.

The factory’s last managing director was Runar Sandelin, who continued manufacturing leather and shoes after founding a new company in 1983. Sandelin got permission to keep using the Åström Brothers -name from En-Ko. The shoes weren’t the only thing being produced, but along with them the factory made gun cases, ammunition belts, baseball gloves, and knife sheaths. In 1970, the factory was moved to Oulainen, but it went bankrupt in 1974.

After the Åström Brothers, the building has been repurposed to have offices and premises for different companies, as well as Oulu’s Vocational College’s teaching restaurant. Between the years 1996 and 2002, the building went through renovations to have only teaching- and office spaces.