RSHP connects "unashamedly modern" building to historic Toronto hall

British architecture studio RSHP and local outfit Adamson Associates Architects have completed St Lawrence Market North in Toronto, giving it two vaulted wings and a central atrium.

Located on the site of what has been a place for markets and gatherings since the early 1800s, St Lawrence Market North includes space for a farmer’s market, as well as offices and municipal courtrooms.

It has an industrial material palette with steel framing and plentiful glass on the exterior.

The market is integrated into a larger complex, abutting the historic St Lawrence Hall and sitting across the street from another market building.

The RSHP and Adamson Associates Architects teams worked together to integrate the new, modern building with the historic hall.

“In the long term, it should raise the quality of the built environments around it,” RSHP senior partner Ivan Harbour told Dezeen.

“It’s unashamedly modern, but doesn’t ignore its context.”

To integrate the new and historic aspects, the team chose a design that would preserve the views of the dome on St Lawrence Hall from the street, while creating a connection via a frameless glass volume.

Pedestrian connections also link it with the public areas outside and to the historic South Market across the street.

“It creates a stronger relationship between the farmer’s market and the streetscape, letting the activity spill out of the building and into the public realm,” said Adamson Associate Architects partner-in-charge Domenic Virdo.

“It amplifies the vibrancy of the market, the neighbourhood, and the city as a whole.”

The building itself is five levels, with the ground floor space dedicated to preserving the market function of the site.

The steel framing of the building is supported by steel columns with tapered concrete bases, which ring the marketplace from the outside as well as inside, lining the space between the market space and the central circulation.

“The building is sandwiched by support, in a way,” said Harbour.

Its design was based on that of the traditional English moot hall, according to Harbour, in that it functions both as a gathering space and a place for official public functions.

Right above the market floor are a series of rooms dedicated to community use.

The upper levels are dedicated to office spaces and to courtrooms, so multiple public functions are happening under the same roof. This elevated position allows for plenty of light to enter some of the courtrooms and workspaces.

These programmes are kept in the wings of the building, each of which features a vaulted structure with greenery on the rooftop.

The courtrooms were placed directly underneath the vaults, and skylights were included in these spaces to keep them private while allowing for natural light.

The glass spine that runs down the centre of the building allows for light to penetrate all the way to ground level. Circulation areas and mezzanines were placed around the atrium, while skywalks cross over it, looking down at the market floor below.

These skywalks have an orangeish colour that was repeated on the fins at the exterior and is reminiscent of the colour of brick.

“I think it is quite successful in reinforcing the presence of the surrounding heritage structures – including the South Market, St. Lawrence Hall, and the lower-scale brick buildings that characterize the neighbourhood,” said Virdo.

Underground parking was included to service the building.

RSHP was originally co-founded by the late British architect Richard Rogers, best known for the design of Centre Pompidou in France with Renzo Piano.

Other projects that integrate markets and atriums include a greenhouse-informed market by Linehouse in Shanghai.

The photography is by Nic Lehoux.

Project credits:

Architect(s): RSHP and Adamson Associates Architects
Structural & building envelope: Entuitive
Mechanical/electrical: Smith + Andersen
Civil: WSP
Landscape: Quinn Design Associates
Interiors: Adamson Associates Architect
Contractor: The Buttcon Ltd. / The Atlas Corporation Joint Venture (BA)

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