Former industrial sites given imaginative new lease of life

"Honestly speaking, 1933 Shanghai has not made much profit since it opened. And the park itself has not helped much in terms of the operation of our brand. Domestic furniture brands usually prefer to go to shopping malls, which will save a lot in terms of advertising, marketing and sales. But all these brands will grow in the same fashion at the end of the day, without any personality, as they have to follow the sales policies of the shopping malls," Zhang said.

"But, usually, overseas designers will not adopt this type of sales. Their ideas are quite different and they always prefer to take the road less traveled."

Arriving at 1933 Shanghai at the end of May, British furniture brand Retro Revo has quickly become accustomed to its new surroundings. The style of the park matches the style of its furniture, said Gan Yanqing, sales manager.

"We received orders in the first few days after opening. Tourism will help to bring in some customers but will not really help with turnover.

"But the thing is, most people just take 1933 Shanghai as a tourist attraction but few will know it is also home to many design firms. By taking a look at the less vibrant business atmosphere here, we can see that the park operator has not been very successful in attracting investment.

"We hope that government will give more help to design firms like us. Creativity is manifested in various ways and the government should support diversified development," Gan said.

For Xia Guangyao, owner of Wenzhou Jialunte Textile Finery, creativity means money. When overseas orders began to dwindle following the economic downturn in Western economies, Xia turned to an Italian design firm in Shanghai for help.

Instead of reducing costs by cutting back like many of his associates in Wenzhou did, Xia increased spending to revamp his product lines based on new designs from the Italian firm. He said he hasn't hit the jackpot, but is close, with his factory raking in profits while others in the business are failing.

Xia said he plans to build up the design capability in-house. "I am scouting for design talent up and down the country for my new creative team," he said.

"It is hard to come by, but I am willing to spend money for the right person."

In Shanghai, the pool of design talent is expanding at 1933 and other creative parks. Less than 8 km from 1933 is Bridge 8, a renovated automotive components factory on a tree-lined street in the former French Concession.

Naco Architecture arrived at Bridge 8 in 2007. The interior design firm's designers, who come from all over the world, have found the venue ideal to work in, as the firm's marketing manager, who only gave his surname, Zhao, explained.

"Bridge 8 is a real cradle of creativity. Designers with different specialties gather here and give one another a great deal of inspiration, which provides incentive for more inspiration," he said.

A sales manager, surnamed Qu, at New Zealand-registered garment company Cue, said: "Visitors to Bridge 8 are usually more fashion-conscious. The rent is about 10,000 yuan a month, which is quite reasonable. After two years here, we can see that business is quite good.

"Designers for our brand love to work here, as Bridge 8 provides a superb creative atmosphere. But we have little idea of the local government's policy to boost creative industry. Therefore, we don't really benefit in this regard," Qu added.

Zhang Xiaoxian contributed to this story.