Simonsland was originally built as a textile factory in 1918 but was later abandoned by the textile manufacturer. In 2011 the real estate firm Kanico took over the building and began renovations. Today it serves as a new centre for the local textile industry as well as an entrepreneurial hub. Thereby it has reinvigorated Borås’ image as a textile city [1; 2].
The building was constructed in 1918 and originally functioned as a textile factory for Svensk Konstsilke. It thereby cemented the image of Borås as a textile centre. It was eventually abandoned. Discussions on renovation started in 2010 and in 2011 the work commenced [1].
The aim of Simonsland is to reinvigorate the city’s image as a textile centre and bring life back into a former desolated part of the city. The old textile factory is renovated and now provides space for new initiatives in the textile industry, as well as educational activities. Moreover, store space can be rented, as well as office space and some apartments [1; 2]. Another way the imitative achieves this aim is by housing a textile museum as well as the Swedish School of Textiles [3]
The initiative is a public-private partnership led and managed by the private real estate firm Kanico. It works together with the Municipality of Borås to bring their plans to fruition. For Kanico it is an investment opportunity, while the municipality aims to renew an abandoned part of the city. There is also cooperation with the University of Borås, which saw opportunity for a new location for their institute of textiles and research [3].
The initative has been funded by Kanico, the Municipality of Borås, and the County Board (regional government) of Västra Götaland. This resulted in a total funding of over €10.000.000 [2]. It is a for-profit project that earns revenue through the rental of apartments, office spaces, and storefronts [1; 4].
Simonsland, project website, http://simonsland.se/byggresan/, accessed on 22-07-2022
Clicproject, project description of Simonsland, https://www.clicproject.eu/clicapp/home/details/3316, accessed on 22-07-2022
Chith, H. (2019). Including Simonsland Upgrading of a central, yet remote site in the city of Borås (Master’s thesis), Chalmers University of Technology, https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12380/256573
Kanico, project website, http://www.kanico.se/vara-fastigheter/, accessed on 23-07-2022
Clicproject, Adaptive Reuse of Cultural Heritage, https://iclei-europe.org/fileadmin/templates/iclei-europe/lib/resources/tools/push_resource_file.php?uid=slMYA476, accessed on 09-08-2022