Design District Canteen | Selgascano Arquitectos

The market welcomes locals and visitors thanks to its privileged location; just right at the main pedestrian access to the Greenwich Peninsula. The market celebrates its visible condition by being as transparent as possible. A very light metal structure and a stressed clear ETFE membrane cover a central spine in which we place the stalls and a seating area on top. This spine is the market itself. The stalls display at each side of the spine at ground level while a seating area is provided just above it and under the tree canopies. The whole spine is built with translucent backlight materials acting as a big lamp that illuminates the market and the ETFE membrane, making the whole market shines at nights and become a focus point in the neighborhood. The market has its main access doors at both extremes of it but it is also accessible at the sides. These operable panels at base level are built with polycarbonate instead to avoid any possible vandalism. The ETFE membrane is subdivided in different panels which some of them are operable for ventilation reasons and to provide the wonderful feeling of being in a street market.

Design District Canteen
Location: Design District. Greenwich Peninsula, London, UK
Design years: from 2017 to 2019
Construction year: from 2019 to 2021
Architects: selgascano
Project team: Víctor Jiménez, Paolo Tringali, Juan José Muñoz, Catalina Vázquez, Sara Ouass, Inés Olavarrieta.
Client: Knight Dragon Developments Ltd
Model maker: Gilberto Ruiz Lopes

Structural engineer: Momentum, Whitby Woods
Facades: Albany Façade Engineering, Vector Foiltec
Mechanical engineer: Skelly & Couch
Interior designer: selgascano
Landscape architect: Schulze+Grassov + selgascano
General contractor: Ardmore

Program: Food market
Building area (footprint area): 495 sqm
Total floor area: 660 sqm
ground level: 485 sqm
first level: 175 sqm