The Downtown Market is a mixed-use facility located in Grand Rapids, MI. The market incorporates all aspects of local food production, from growth in the large greenhouses on the second floor to distribution in the “open air” market, and education about local produce in public test kitchens. With sustainability in mind, the market includes a green roof, live walls, geothermal wells, rain gardens, and many other innovative features. Downtown Market is LEED Gold-certified, the first LEED-certified market in the nation. Downtown Market is one of 9 projects recognized by Architectural Record’s Good Design is Good Business Award for the successful collaboration between client and design team. This award celebrates projects that demonstrate the power of design in the advancement of business and civic objectives.
PROJECT SPECS:
Client: Grand Action
Size: 132,000 SF
Construction Cost: $21.6 million
Project Cost: $32 million
Completion Date: May 2013
Architectural Record 2015 Awards
Good Design is Good Business Awards: Grand Rapids Downtown Market
Lydia Lee | May 2015
The Grand Rapids Downtown Market is a fantasyland of eats: the 132,000-square-foot 
three-level building offers bread from a wood-fired oven, charcuterie sourced from nearby farms, and other locavore delights. It is also a dream come true from the perspective of urban planning and local business, since its success indicates the community can achieve such goals as supporting local farmers and revitalizing a neglected industrial area at one stroke. During its first year, the market generated 215 new jobs and $5 million in retail sales and spurred conversion of two neighboring warehouses into mixed-use projects with 170 housing units.
Montclair, New Jersey-based architect Hugh Boyd has made a specialty of farmers’ markets and indoor market halls. Of his 50 similar projects over 30 years, the $32 million Grand Rapids Downtown Market is the largest and most ambitious. “The diversity of the program is unique, and it was a challenge to get the entire program to work,” he says of the undertaking. Keeping budget in mind, Boyd conceived a warehouse of steel-and-metal decking, with wood accents whose warmth and craftsmanship underscore the artisanal nature of the businesses within.
Read more: Grand Rapids Downtown Market | Hugh A. Boyd Architects
DESIGN TEAM:
Architect: Hugh A. Boyd Architects
Architect of Record: Progressive A/E
Engineers: Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber (Civil, Structural, M/E/P)
CONSULTANTS:
Lighting Designer: The Lighting Practice
Food Service: JRA Food Service Design & Engineering
Greenhouse: Rough Brother
Green Roof & Living Walls: LiveWall
Construction Manager: Pioneer Construction
