Malmö Market Hall, A Conversion Of Freight Depot

The freight depot in Malmö has been converted into a covered food market by Swedish studio Wingårdh, known as the Malmö Market Hall. The brick shell of the depot is extended to provide a new space for market vendors and restauranteurs in the Swedish city.

The studio repaired the old building and added sheets of pre-rusted red steel over the new extension, in the 1,500-square-metre space of Malmö Market Hall. The weathered steel cladding used for the extension imitates the industrial character that has long dominated the area, just as the matching of red-rust facades to the brick cladding of the freight depot.

"The extension's facade has been constructed rationally, utilizing standardized, corrugated steel in combination with prominent, vertical, steel profiles," the architects explained, about the extension for Malmö Market Hall. "[This] bestows the facade with rhythm and stability in framing windows and doorways."

According to the Dezeen, the extension is separated from brick cladding by a strip of glass that runs up the facades and across the roof. Moving to the west of the Malmö Market Hall is a public square that accommodates outdoor stalls and events, while the south houses an additional outdoor seating area designed for food cultivation.

Meanwhile, the Malmö Market Hall interior was intentionally kept simple in order to display the produce being sold by traders. A matt black ceiling and signage painted on matching black I-beams brings the market hall an industrial feeling combined with preserved heritage.

The architecture of the Malmö Market Hall delivers a robust framework for tenants to develop and change identity over time. A similar fervency is seen in other projects handled by Wingårdh - a huge amber-tinted shopping center featuring a curving chasm cut into its roof, which is one of the major shopping destinations in Malmö.