People First

The Silk Factory Cultural Quarter in Mohács is a fantastic example of the renovation of old factory buildings. We especially liked the fact that the rooms, machines and the workers of the former factory building are presented in large pictures everywhere. 

The old beautiful building on the banks of the Danube and its surroundings were handed over to its new function in the summer of 2021, although the whole building complex is not yet ready.  The renovation of the larger building next to it is also expected to be completed in 2022, where a sports centre and café will be opened and the parking lot will be built here. In the renovated building on the other side a restaurant opens at the beginning of summer.
We have in February 2022 toured the already opened main building from an accessibility point of view under the kind leadership of the centre's manager and event organizer.

The accessibility of the building is exemplary, at last the goal of the builder was not only to comply with the law, but it can be seen that every detail was paid attention.

Although this was not yet visible when we arrived, because the barrier-free entrance immediately stopped us, as we found the door locked and we could not find any bells or signs informing us of the entrance. However, we learned from the head of the centre that although its name is similar, the Silk Factory Cultural Quarter does not work like the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter in Pécs, at least for now. You can't just come in here to look, shop, watch an exhibition, the Silk Factory is primarily an event venue, conferences, weddings, and other bigger events. Thus, the entrances are closed except for the main entrance, but during the events all open and at the accessible entrances (because there are more from the town side and from the Danube side) guests are personally welcome. Nevertheless, we have recommended placing informational signs and possibly bells for accessible access.

The guide lane leading to the entrance from the town is also strongly needs to be modified, as it leads to a parapet now, not to the entrance. There are no driver's lanes inside the building.

The interior is beautiful and, as mentioned, accessible for its benefit. The slope of the entrances and ramps is perfect, the elevator finally speaks and it indicates where it stands with a sign, and it is marked with Braille.

There are 1-1 accessible toilets in the main building and in the Playhouse next to the main building, which also fully meets the needs of people with disabilities and young children.

In addition to the elevator, there are several Braille signs indicating the direction of the locations.

No induction loop is located in the building.

The Tourinform office can be reached with a small trick, through one of the accessible entrances, then through the terrace, or much more easily and rationally through an accessible entrance from the Danube. The shops are still waiting to be used, but there are already great ideas.

There are no accessible facilities in the playground in the courtyard and in the training park.

There is no accessible parking lot yet, it will be designated in the parking lot between the new building that will soon open and the main building.

The silk factory's website is attractive, professionally constructed. In terms of accessibility it can be well-used with a mouse, it is simple, well built. As a visually impaired it's easy to navigate with a screen reader using both with phone and desktop, well-adjusted headlines, and good text sniping. The menu is also easily accessible, transparent, everything can be found.
However, we miss the barrier-free icon, where you can adjust the color, contrast, and font size for the visually impaired.

We will be back soon and we will discover the other parts of the building that will be completed.
Update Summer 2023: The Silk House Restaurant has opened in the beautiful old building on the side of the Silk Factory. The restaurant has a large terrace on the banks of the Danube with a stunning atmosphere. Inside, there is a pleasant restaurant on the lower floor, and an event room with a capacity of 100 people upstairs.
However, we can only be partially happy about this for the time being, because although the building and the restaurant are very beautiful inside and out, unfortunately they are not barrier-free. The terrace and food offer were already missing from the Mohács facilities, but there is no ramp where you can get up by wheelchair or stroller. A threshold of about 4-5 centimeters makes it difficult to enter the restaurant. There is no barrier-free toilet.
In response to our question, we learned that a request had been submitted to the competent authorities to complete the listed building with a ramp. We await developments in this.

Small addition: taking a short walk down the main street in Mohács we could not find a single accessible café or restaurant, and we could not go down to the Danube bank with wheelchair. Anyone with information about this and expiration is asked to share it with us in a comment here or by emailing info@peoplefirst.hu.

Getting there:
by car about 50 minutes on Route 6 or by paying a toll on the M60 motorway, at which point the journey time is about 40 minutes

by bus from Pécs Bus Station to Mohács Bus Station, from there about 10 minutes on foot to the Silk Factory, so the journey is a little more than 1 hour