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There is a general trend that the use of textiles as interior materials in public buildings is decreasing. The problem with using textiles for these applications seems to be the difficulty in maintaining good finish of these products. There is a need for the replacement of today's textiles with something else that fulfils several functions, for example sound adsorption, giving the impression of light and space, and creating a pleasant atmosphere, both sensually and visually. Extensive research work has been carried out jointly at IFP Research AB, the Department of Textiles, Boras University College and HDK, Göteborg University to blend the artistic and technical aspect of technical textiles in order to achieve architectural elements combining load bearing and decorative features. An important task is also to find new application areas for technical textiles and decorative composites in particular for public areas in buildings that can be produced commercially. Various items of application are pillars, walls, pipe systems and other structures in a building. Other possibilities for decorative composites are furniture, lamps, outdoor playground structures and automotive interiors. In this work, studies of textile-like appearance in transmitted and reflected light have been carried out using tubes, corrugated and flat sheet materials as demonstration objects. The choice of colours has also been studied for expressing various psychological responses. Improved mechanical properties, i.e. strain to fracture, impact toughness and damage tolerance has been demonstrated in decorative laminates and pillars when combining load bearing non-yielding E-glass fibre mats with various types of woven and knitted structures.