Challenge
A condemned warehouse, a fish market that had been moved inland, and a flood map the planning office did not want published.
2024 · Bristol · Civic
Tide Market Hall
A hall that floods on purpose
- Year
- 2024
- Location
- Bristol, England
- Type
- Civic
- Status
- Built
- Area
- 3,100 sq m
- Client
- City of Bristol
Bristol still pretends the river is scenery. The hall treats the water as a landlord. Twice a month the lower nave fills, and the city is forced to remember the waterline.
A riverside market whose floor is a tide gauge. Stallholders pack to a painted baseline. The rest of the hall becomes a water court.
Approach
We kept the iron frame, dropped the floor 80 centimeters, and lined the lower nave in glazed brick. Upper galleries stay dry for bakeries and a municipal kitchen. Drainage is visible, celebrated, and cleaned by the same crew that washes the stalls.
Outcome
London Festival Debut, 2024. The hall hosted 1.2 million visits in its first year and three planned floods that became public festivals.
Credits
Lead
Elena Carter
Heritage
Heritage England
Water study
National Water Lab
Next project
Black Sand School