The Vegetable Market (Mandi) at Silvassa was a National Design Competition by the Concerned Authority to establish a new market for the existing street vendors on a 7000 sqm site area. On a local street with haphazardly aligned buildings, the Vegetable market site is set amidst existing trees and a 100-year-old Mahua tree that opens its arms as a daytime market and a nighttime public plaza for the city, creating a thriving place for the vendors and buyers.
Inspired by the Warli art painting, the design of the steel canopy connects the formal and the informal market with a public plaza evokes an architectural expression in an urban setting. The effort of the project is to create a place as a platform for retailers, street vendors, buyers, and farmers to interact, auction, sell, and buy fresh vegetables, fruits, and flowers.
The design of the building is a C-shaped permanent form with a triple-height market in the centre with a steel canopy. The central space is a covered marketplace with Otlas (storage plinths) and shops along the periphery. The central space is covered with a steel canopy that extends out from a formal market to a semi-open informal market. The central space is designed as a naturally ventilated space with ample natural light, provision for storage below the otlas and water drains.
Attached along the periphery are public toilets, a goods lift, drinking water, cold storage, and washing facilities. Provision for commercial shops, ATMs, and two floors of commercial space on the top is designed for a self-financing model of the market. Efforts are taken to conserve and reuse water for regular washing by the addition of a roof water collection system. Dedicated parking for vehicles, loading and unloading docks, and vehicle loading areas are designed as part of the campus.
Sectional explanation of the market can be defined as an edge that has a public green interface with a public plaza and an informal market. The informal market extends inside as a formal market with storage plinths and shops, and utility facilities at the rear. An effort is taken to make the vegetable market a place for all without any high compound wall, disability-friendly, sustainable in design and material, orientation comfort for the vendors, and urban presence on the street for the new identity of the place.
The Vegetable Market (Mandi) at Silvassa was a National Design Competition by the Concerned Authority in order to establish a new market for the existing street vendors on a 7000 sqm site area. The market can be defined as an edge that has a public green interface with a public plaza and an informal market. We aimed to design this public building with a minimal façade interface and keep the front porous, symbolising that this is a place for the people. Efforts have been taken to make this place disability-friendly, sustainable in design and material, provide orientation comfort for the vendors, and urban presence on the street for the new identity of the place.
The primary building materials used for the construction of the market are RCC, Bricks, and Cement Concrete Blocks. Additionally, to cater the climatic conditions and the nature of the building typology, we have also used Terracotta Breeze blocks that allow natural light and ventilation inside the building. The central canopy that hosts the formal market underneath is fabricated in steel with a combination of GI and Polycarbonate sheets. All steel sections, including columns and beams, are fabricated and customised as per design in order to make this structure unique and translate the design philosophy.
The central steel canopy is the highlight of the project. The canopy consists of columns and a triangulated beam structure that represents the Warli Art, considering the locals in this area who belong to the Warli Tribe. Each row of columns is tilted at an angle of 80 degrees, resembling the tree structure. The column angles were designed to form a triangular form at the roof level, which resembled the Warli Art form.
This canopy extends beyond the built form and hosts the informal market that eventually becomes a part of the public plaza in the urban fabric. There is also a 100-year-old Mahua tree that is retained, and the building strategically wraps around it. Underneath this tree canopy, a canteen is placed – a place of respite for the daily vendors and buyers.
Gallery:
Project Details:
Name: Vegetable Market
Location: Dadra and Nagar Haveli, India
Area: 7000 sq. m
Status: Completed
Typology: Public and Commercial Space
Designed by: ARUR
Lead Architects: Hardik Pandit, Geeta Pandit
Structural Consultant: Rathi Consortium
MEPF Consultant: JIT Engineering
Photo Credits: The Space Tracing Company
