New Urban Relics
februari 13, 2026
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The cotton spinning mill NV La Nouvelle Orleans was founded in 1896 along the Nieuwe Vaart. In 1899, the company expanded with a new building complex. The dominant rectangular building of four storeys under three hipped roofs was erected in 1899. It is a typical Manchester-type spinning mill building. Further expansion with a new spinning mill followed in 1905, and in 1908 the striking square stair tower of the main building was raised and finished in Neo-Flemish Renaissance style. The round factory chimney to the northwest of the spinning mill was erected in 1947.
In 1957, the company merged with NV Waele & Röthlisberger & Fil. et Tis. L'Avenir to form NV Filature Nouvelle Orleans (FNO). However, from the 1950s onwards, the textile industry suffered severe blows. Several companies could no longer stay afloat. Filature Nouvelle Orléans also ran into trouble and was acquired by the UCO group in 1972.
In 1988, the curtain finally fell for FNO. In 1990, the entire site was sold to a Brussels property developer. Various parts of the factory became vacant and quickly fell into disrepair. The overzealous developer demolished the boiler room, the engine room, the horse stable, and one of the cotton warehouses without a permit. The demolition of the Manchester building was prevented just in time... On January 3, 1995, the Flemish Government classified the Manchester building, the office buildings from 1896 and 1907, the chimney, and the old cotton warehouses as monuments.
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