Nan Fung Textiles was founded in 1954 as Hong Kong manufacturing expanded. Its Tsuen Wan mills became part of the district’s industrial landscape, employing generations of workers in spinning, yarn production and textile manufacturing. Mills 4, 5 and 6 were completed in the 1960s and 1970s. Production ceased in 2008, and the buildings were then used as warehouses.
From the journal
The Mills: Tsuen Wan’s Textile Past in a New Form
The Mills keeps traces of Nan Fung’s textile factory within a cultural complex shaped by the changing fortunes of Tsuen Wan industry.
In this district · Tsuen Wan ↗A textile company rooted in Tsuen Wan
From production floors to public spaces
Nan Fung Group announced the revitalization project in 2014. After four years of adaptive reuse, The Mills opened in December 2018. It retained the factory buildings’ external character while adding cultural, learning and creative uses. The complex includes The Mills Fabrica, The Mills Shopfloor and CHAT, the Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile; original signs and green paint remain visible.
Industry as part of the present
The site now brings textile history into a public cultural setting. CHAT’s exhibitions and learning programmes use textiles to interpret the past and encourage new creative work. The old mills continue to locate that activity within Tsuen Wan’s manufacturing history.