Market Commons Restaurant, Retail & Housing
The Southlands, Tsawwassen, BC
In progress 2022
The Market Commons is part of the agri-hood community of Southlands. The project provides incubator retail space for food-based enterprises, a farm-to-table restaurant, and 21 apartment-style residential units. Multiple configurations of the commercial space are provided, allowing for the structure to evolve alongside the growth and transformation of businesses as they mature and diversify.
The unique challenge of this project lies in its combination of retail and residential uses. The design inverts expectations of “front” and “back,” and organizes the dwellings and shops around a mews landscape space. Pathways, benches, and shared gardens provide opportunity for neighbourly exchange and for gathering around food and drink. Significant public realm is provided with connections to a pedestrian lane and brewpub to the east, and to the market square to the north.
Residential apartments are accessed from an exterior walkway - providing light, air, and generous patio space to the units - with opportunities to grow food along its length. This project prototypes the successful integration of agriculture into urban living, and the celebration of food in the design of retail and public space.