Rochester Public Market - Master Plan

Rochester, New York

Winner of 2013 AIA Rochester Design Excellence Award

Winner of 2012 APANY Planning Excellence and Best Practice

The City of Rochester retained a consultant team to study potential renovations and expansions to the existing ‘Wintershed’ (Shed B). In order to establish a more comprehensive view, the scope of the project evolved into a Master Plan for the entire market.

Resulting from an extensive year-long effort, the Master Plan outlines recommendations, and identifies proposed renovations, to accomplish the primary goals set forth by the Market and its constituents.

MARKET PLANNING GOALS:

Create an active market throughout the entire week and year.
Ensure the service to a wide diversity of customers.
Create modernized facilities to meet the needs of current and future vendors.
Expand the number of vending spaces under cover.
Provide a variety of vending options.
Ensure operational continuity of the market throughout the project's duration.
Develop facilities for events and culinary, nutritional and agricultural education.

The Master Plan strives to address a highly complex environment that is loaded with public opinion by: drawing from the intrinsic logic of the original 1905 market plan; embracing evolving trends in market vending; strategic construction phasing that accommodates for swing space and operational continuity; and by establishing circulation patterns and aesthetic gestures that carefully stitch the market together architecturally.

Some of the key features of the master plan include: a new open Shed D on the approximate footprint of an original market shed; enclosure of the existing open Shed C with aluminum and glass garage doors; renovation and expansion of the wintershed to accommodate vendor cooler and storage space, incorporate the food kiosk vendors, widen the circulation aisle, add public restrooms, and upgrade power, plumbing and heating; construct a new building at the west end of the site to house small-scale food producers with storefront components; the restoration of, and additions to, the existing 1930s Market House for educational and administrative functions; and the creation of a new pedestrian-oriented plaza located in the heart of the Market.