Type
market, public space

Client
Municipality of Nova Gorica

Address/Site
Nova Gorica, Slovenia

Site area
2.135 m2

Building area
770 m2

Program
market, square, bar

Structure
prefabricated concrete, steelwork

Cladding
ceramic tiles

Architect
SADAR+VUGA (Jurij Sadar, Boštjan Vuga, Tina Hočevar, Rok Staudacher)

The new marketplace in Nova Gorica is an important site in the centre of the city. It is placed in the current green area between the bus station and Erjavčeva street. On the east side it borders a longitudinal park and thereafter a road space of the main road – »Magistrala«. With its open square as well as with its covered area, which includes the market stalls and a kiosk, the new marketplace represents the continuation and conclusion of Trgovska street. The square in front of the covered area is in tune with the space of Bevk Square on the north side of Trgovska street.

In the direction north to south the area of the marketplace is completely passable. The market activity, on-going in the kiosks, in the permanent and temporary market stalls is concluded in the interior of the renovated bus station building.

From the east side, from the main road, a path leads to the covered area of the marketplace diagonally across the longitudinal park. The uniform paving of the marketplace extends from the open square area and the market stalls to the east side, toward the longitudinal park. Here a mixed service/delivery surface is formed, which enables the transportation of goods to the marketplace in the morning and from it during the afternoon.

The marketplace is covered with a L-shaped roof made from prefabricated concrete beams, which are supported by a pair of pillars bent at the top. The beams are shifted height wise and length wise, giving the impression of an animated and dominant roof. With the shifting of the beams height wise we enable the natural light to illumine the deeper part next to the kiosks. The roof also simultaneously shades and protects against external weather influences.

The roof made from strong concrete beams, floating on the bent fork-like pillars, becomes the marketplace’s main recognizable element. The prefabricated concrete beams appear in Nova Gorica as a design element on different buildings and in different functions. They are becoming, so to speak, a contextual element of Nova Gorica in terms of a modernistically designed city. The cantilevers of the beams are also a reference to the buildings in Trgovska street, with which the marketplace forms a soft continuation of design.

The marketplace is surrounded with existing high growing trees, which expand from the green area by the north side of the marketplace’s covered area toward the paved square. The green vertical lines of the trees and the concrete horizontal lines of the beams create a true modernist contrast, characteristic for the garden city Nova Gorica.

The vending kiosks under the concrete roof also blend into the green background, because they are covered with a green ceramic mosaic. The vending kiosks are positioned longitudinally in the east and in the direction north to south. On the west side there is a small kiosk, which completes the square on the west side. Under the roof, next to the vending kiosks, permanent market stalls are installed. The stalls grouped in rows form small islands, which enable passability and connect the square with the vending kiosks. These are, with their sales, oriented toward the market stalls and the square.

The covered area with its permanent and temporary market stalls, as well as the square in front of it, represent a space of increasing frequency and activities, which change depending on the time of day, day of the week and throughout the seasons. In this manner the new marketplace becomes the central space for fairs, and the open square in front of it, a lively venue and performance area in the centre of the city.