Braga's City Market | Mariana Macedo

The City Market is located in Praça do Comércio, a noble and central
area in Braga, Portugal.
The main goal was to transform the market, a building with historical and
social importance for the city and its inhabitants, into a living organism,
where several programs work together to attract and maintain a steady
stream of people, enhancing the rentability of the building.
It was proposed the addition of a diversified leisure/recreational program
to the existing commercial program, believing that they can stimulate each
other.
The intervention focused on the building's central courtyard in order to
spare the exterior facades and its original identity (listed building).
A new volume that expands itself for the patium was addorsed to the
existing building. This new center creates a new image for the market and
also optimises the relation between the market's internal program and the
exterior space.
The program was divided into two groups. One associated with daytime
activities, where normal market functions take place, associated to
others of ludical character: a restaurant, a caffe/bar/study space and
a multifunctional room that would have an important social role (work
with schools, workshops, classes, etc.). The other group of activities are
designed to operate at night, including the restaurant and the bar, able to
work independently.