This little piggy went to a different market (probably on foot)

This time last year I wrote an article called "This little piggy went to market (on his fixie)" which investigated (on a purely conceptual level) redeveloping the Brunswick Market site @ 661 Sydney Road into a mixed-use village.

Like most sequels, no-one really asked for it, but I went ahead and decided to produce one anyway. Without further ado here's the highly anticipated "This little piggy went to a different market", focusing on everyone's favourite, the Queen Victoria Market.

As most readers would know, the City of Melbourne have made their intentions clear in the past year regarding the market's renewal: creating one of the world's great market experiences. City of Melbourne are currently pushing ahead with phase two of their community consultation process, covered in an earlier article.

Based on some of the guiding principles illustrated below, I've put together a concept for the site with a focus on the new public space and southern development site.

I've kept it rather broad and conceptual, to nut out the finer details and design it correctly would take more time than I can presently afford.

Put simply it's an idea around a series of new glazed and timber sheds which house various programs (such as nurseries, a community veggie patch, microbrewery and TAFE) bordering a large public space, featuring a mix of soft and hard landscaping.

For the new development to the south, I've kept the buildings which interface with the Queen, Franklin and William Streets to maximum height of eight levels. Predominantly residential in use they are clad in a mix of timber, masonry and off-form concrete with retail at ground level. A new laneway off Franklin Street snakes its way through the site and out on to Queen Street.

To the south of the laneway sits 18-storey and 80-storey buildings of mixed uses; the taller of which is loosely based on a shard-like reinterpretation of DCM's unbuilt Building 4 at the former Carlton Brewery site.

And with that I shall let you all (hopefully) enjoy these conceptual images:

New development to Peel & Franklin Streets. © Laurence Dragomir

Plaza view looking west along new Franklin St. © Laurence Dragomir

Aerial view of north end and market precinct. © Laurence Dragomir

300m tower - drawing cues from DCM's unbuilt Brewery tower. © Laurence Dragomir

View of new development from Queen Street. © Laurence Dragomir

View looking east along Franklin Street with skyline in the distance. © Laurence Dragomir