Design Firm Snøhetta Reveals Concept for a New Public Market on the Waterfront

• Snøhetta
• Rendering of the James Beard Public Market

When Craig Dykers of design firm Snøhetta was tapped by the James Beard Public Market (JBPM) to design a concept for a central public food market for Portland, he was surprised to hear we didn’t have one already. Today, in an appearance alongside Ron Paul, executive director of the James Beard Public Market and the project’s developer, Don Petrusich of Melvin Mark, Dykers revealed what Snøhetta’s come up with for the site.

The James Beard Public Market, named for Portland’s own legendary chef, will sit at the westside head of the Morrison Bridge, and host 60 vendor stalls alongside 30-40 tables.

Why the Morrison Bridge? Though the area around a bridge on-ramp seems like an altogether wacky area for a market today, there actually was once a market on that particular site, explained Dykers and Paul. But it was shuttered in the 1950s. It’s now an “underutilized” spot, said Dykers, and one of the aims of the market will be to ensure that it doesn’t remain “a dust collector.”

Based in Oslo and New York, Snøhetta’s the firm behind of the Oslo Opera House and the recent reconstruction of New York’s Times Square, as well as the National September 11 Museum at the World Trade Center site. To come up with the concept for JBPM, Dykers and his colleagues visited public markets throughout Europe; they eventually decided on a two-story market with a focus on local growers; it’ll also host a teaching kitchen, and features a non-traditional (read: not gridlike) design. The 80,000-square foot space will also include an outdoor garden, and inside, it’s been designed with large windows to soak up “a tremendous amount of sunlight,” thus evading the gloomy arcade feel of many indoor markets. The windows will also make it a light source on the waterfront at night.

The design is settled, but JBPM’s staff still have a number of hoops to jump through—an environmental analysis as well as an economic one. As of right now, they could provide no information on how much the project will cost. The JBPM staff will host a public event at OMSI tomorrow from 5-8 pm for a chance to discuss the project with Snøhetta’s design team and market staff. That event’s at full capacity, but diehards can get on a waitlist here.