When Wessely started the business with one stitch-bonding machine in the shell of an old toweling factory in 1999, he found pretty good demand for "multiaxial reinforcements"--they're strong, stiff lightweight cloths used in boat hulls and construction materials.

FORBES: New Britannia

On the far bank stood an old hydroelectric station, or the brick shell of one.

NPR: Excerpt: 'World Made By Hand'