Featuring a central hip and pent hip roof spanning the length of the pavilion, the new Lexington Market would look a lot like the old sheds that served as the market’s home until a fire destroyed the structure in 1949. Only, it would be newer and sleeker, with slatted metal siding and factory-style windows.
Seawall Development, the firm tasked with designing the next iteration of the 237-year-old market, presented these plans, drawn up by BCT Architects, to the city’s Urban Design and Architecture Advisory Panel today.
Renderings also show an outdoor seating area with tables and umbrellas and an outdoor porch. In a news release, Seawall says the market will have a level floor inside, instead of the sloping one at the current building.
“The designs shown today reflect a year of listening and collaborating with the full range of stakeholders in the redevelopment of Lexington Market–from current vendors to area small business owners to downtown businesses and institutions,” Jon Constable, Seawall partner and project lead for Lexington Market, said in a statement.
Check out some more renderings below:
Following Seawall’s success with the Remington food hall R. House, city leaders tapped the company last October to come up with a new concept for Lexington Market, shelving plans to redevelop the current building, opened in the 1950s.
The estimated cost, Mayor Catherine Pugh said at the time, is $30 million to $40 million, a savings of $10 million to $20 million from the earlier plan.
In a statement, Pugh said, “The importance of Lexington Market has always been about much more than just a building, and these plans for the new South Market structure make clear that a new era is on the horizon for this vital community gathering space and resource.”
If the designs are eventually approved, plans call for the new market to be constructed where the existing parking lot just south of the East Market building sits. The new building would stretch the entire block between Paca and Eutaw streets and include a pedestrian plaza and park on Lexington Street in the space currently occupied by the Arcade.
The market would remain open during construction.
