Self-redevelopment of the No. 1 Silk Factory — Conservation Through Use, Suzhou

1. Project Overview

The Suzhou No. 1 Silk Factory is at No. 94 Nanmen Road, facing the city moat to the north at the important southern entrance to the old city. Founded in 1926, it was nationalized after the War of Resistance against Japan and named the "China Silk Corporation Suzhou No. 1 Experimental Silk Factory". It is China's oldest silk-reeling enterprise. Over time the factory's performance declined and its industrial buildings stood empty. In 2024 the upgrading of the No. 1 Silk Factory was included in Suzhou's first batch of pilot projects for redeveloping inefficient land. Through self-redevelopment, the land use was changed from industrial to commercial service land compatible with cultural uses, on a site of 40,956 square metres (about 61.5 mu). In May 2026, as the factory marked its centenary, the project was completed and opened, becoming a fashionable landmark of Suzhou's silk industrial culture and an important venue for integrating culture, commerce and tourism in Gusu District.

2. Redevelopment Entity and Model

(1) Why the land was inefficient

First, industrial functions were obsolete. As Gusu District moved from manufacturing to services, industry left the district and the core functions of the city changed. The factory's production function no longer fit the area's development, and its production buildings stood empty for a long time.

Second, protection policies were constraining. The site includes a municipal-level protected heritage building owned by the Suzhou Housing and Urban–Rural Development Bureau, while the rest belongs to the factory. Multiple controls — heritage protection and protection of old and notable trees — made redevelopment difficult and limited the scope for reuse.

Third, redevelopment was costly. The site is on the south bank of the old city moat, a key gateway to the old city and an important node in the riverside cultural landscape. The existing old factory buildings were dilapidated, and the redevelopment had to combine classical character with a fresh style, requiring high standards and high costs.

(2) Redevelopment entity

The land rights holder, Suzhou No. 1 Silk Factory Co., Ltd., carried out the redevelopment itself.

(3) Redevelopment model

Systematic planning and targeted design. Gusu District surveyed inefficient land and studied its reuse, identified the plots needing redevelopment and set an implementation schedule, placing the factory among the near-term priorities. By pushing forward redevelopment of several nearby existing plots and commissioning tailored project design, the district stimulated the owner's willingness to redevelop.

Combining retention and alteration to suit the site. The planning scheme combined "retention and new build"; after consultation among all parties, the functions and methods of redevelopment were agreed, integrating the site's historic and cultural elements. The adaptive reuse of five historic buildings — including the cocoon-stripping house and the reeling hall — was fully considered, and six registered old trees and a group of rare trees were protected, finding the best use of the site's resources.

Function-led, careful design. Above-ground alteration and underground development were coordinated. Above ground, some existing buildings were kept and new buildings concentrated on the north and west sides. Engineering techniques allowed the above-ground buildings to be retained while a new car park and ancillary facilities were built underground; underground floor space is not counted in the floor area ratio, adding scarce parking to the central city. The whole process took into account pipelines, road works and heritage protection.

3. Results

(1) Showcasing the Jiangnan cultural brand

Suzhou's 15th Five-Year Plan outline calls for continuing the Jiangnan cultural heritage in new ways and raising Suzhou's standing and influence within "Jiangnan culture". The No. 1 Silk Factory witnessed the evolution of modern Jiangnan silk culture; the project keeps the material memory of red brick and washed granolithic finishes, creating tangible, multi-sensory spaces. It works with intangible cultural heritage practitioners on silk culture exhibitions and craft activities, creating a cultural industry chain, and served as the filming location for the "cotton mill" in the TV drama Romance in the Alley, which tells the story of Suzhou's silk industry — further promoting Suzhou's quintessentially "Jiangnan" culture.

(2) Activating new businesses

The project adds 40,000 square metres of culture, commerce and tourism space to the old city, attracting retail, offices, a hotel, performing arts and artists' apartments, and developing "first-store", events and OPC (one-person company) economies. It has brought in several first stores including voco (IHG) hotel, Trends Hub and Danxiang Space, and provides 1,800 square metres of large-span exhibition and performance space for regular shows, art festivals and screenings of the "Su Super League" football matches. Shared offices have attracted leading companies such as BOE Art Cloud and incubate start-up teams. Flexible plazas and open spaces are reserved for local residents, who are encouraged to organize cultural activities such as silk festivals, markets and craft workshops, strengthening community belonging and cultural identity.

(3) Innovative approvals as a model

As one of Suzhou's first pilots, the project established a "joint consultation" approach between government and company while forming the scheme. Based on higher-level plans and the site's needs, several rounds of discussion settled what to retain, alter and demolish, and the factory's self-redevelopment proceeded steadily. Institutional innovation cleared bottlenecks in converting existing land: the project was Gusu's first benchmark case of "multiple permits issued together" for revitalizing existing land, and a typical example of the city's reform to "get things done efficiently in one go". It offers a replicable model for reviving similar inefficient industrial land in the old city.

4. Key Practices

(1) Joint planning to generate the project and stimulate willingness

A government–enterprise consultation mechanism matched market demand and the desired business mix, balancing functions, operating returns and redevelopment costs given the site's condition, and set out what to retain, alter and demolish. New uses were introduced to suit the site — cultural display, creative offices, leisure and retail, and community services — adapting old industrial space to the area's development and reshaping its value. At the same time, pilot policies on land pricing were applied. Because heritage and tree protection made underground excavation difficult, construction and installation costs were taken into account in the land valuation, and the cost was assessed by deducting the replacement value of the buildings, reducing the company's development burden and encouraging the original owner to redevelop. The project paid nearly CNY 70 million in supplementary land transfer fees according to regulations, reviving existing inefficient resources and developing above- and below-ground space together.

(2) Joint study to overcome technical difficulties

To ease parking pressure, the project needed a new underground car park of about 12,000 square metres, but the site contains six registered old trees, 249 other trees, a protected heritage building and several historic buildings, making construction difficult. An integrated solution was therefore developed jointly from the start. Experts on old trees were invited early to review the retaining structures and excavation plans, and their advice guided the planning scheme so that new buildings and basement excavation kept safe distances. For the protection and reuse of historic buildings, a technical approach of "repair old as old, regenerate function" was adopted. Weathered red brick and decayed timber were specially repaired and traces such as climbing ivy kept. Inside the cocoon house, a double-height space was created to hold full-height bookcases, meeting commercial needs while preserving the building's historic value. Workshop No. 2 in Building 4 became a performing arts centre, with the ground floor raised to create a high space for performances. None of these alterations damaged historic walls, achieving both protection and adaptive reuse.

(3) Joint coordination to deliver the project

As one of the city's first pilots, the project involved protection and alteration, extension and new build. Gusu District set up a task force from the planning and natural resources, data and housing departments, which worked closely with the developer, mapped every stage of implementation and drew up a tailored checklist to help the company understand the whole process. Cross-departmental cooperation with "pre-review with missing documents + relay approvals" shortened approval times, with follow-up at each milestone, so the project could start, land and open as early as possible.

5. Policy Basis

(1) The Notice of the Ministry of Natural Resources on Launching Pilot Work on the Redevelopment of Inefficiently Used Land (Ziran Zifa [2023] No. 171) calls for improving standards for charging and supplementary payment of land prices in redevelopment, taking into account the costs of land preparation, handing over land or floor space for public use, building infrastructure and public service facilities, and linked redevelopment of several plots.

(2) The Notice on Issuing the Suzhou Implementation Plan for Pilot Redevelopment of Inefficient Land (Sufuban [2024] No. 64) provides that where land users carry out self-redevelopment, the valuation for supplementary land price payments may determine costs using the current land valuation and the replacement value of buildings, and may take into account the value of immovable structures.