Striking vision for city market includes a rooftop garden

SLOPED rooftop gardens, timber wrapping and water features.

This is one man’s radical vision for Coventry market.

Matt Willemsen, a local architect, has drawn up a plan that he says will “rejuvenate and reimagine” the much-loved city landmark.

So what would the plans mean for Coventry, and are we ready for such a drastic change?

Matt fills the Telegraph in on his vision...

Matt’s idea would completely change Coventry market as we know it now.

But he says this is essential for rejuvenating that part of the city, whilst keeping a key part of its identity.

The quirky proposal from Matt, who works for Coventry firm IDP architecture, retainsthe original structure of the market, but masks the harshness of the concrete with timber.

There is also a rooftop garden which he says could become a focal point for community activity, functional spaces around the circumference of the maintained circular structure, and an internal mezzanine.

Matt said: “The wrapping structure is an engineered timber which is colour matched to the native sandstone of Coventry’s heritage. The intermediate supports act as a substrate for pockets of planters, draped evergreen ivy plants trickle over the edge, fashioning a green curtain that holds the market.”

Matt, who came to Coventry to study in 2012 and never left, said: “I feel like part of the community, and walk past the market and go frequently. Coventry is a bit of a confused city, there’s no set vernacular to the architecture.

“There are lots of individual pockets of architecture, and I think some really interesting building happened here in the 1960s when we had that age of optimism in the rebuilding of Coventry.

“The market was a big part of life, even though there was hardly any money the optimism and the success that the city was having with the motor industry saw a lot of wealth and innovation come into the city.

“It’s a statement to what Coventry was, what Coventry is and what it can be. The market forms an integral part of the heritage of Coventry and it needs to be retained.”

Coventry market was officially opened by Princess Alexandra on November 4 ,1958, and it was an exciting time for the city.

The market hall was built in 1957 to designs of Douglas Beaton, Ralph Iredale and Ian Crawford of Coventry City Architect’s Department.

It was built on the site of Barracks and Rex markets, which had been partially damaged during the bombing of Coventry in November 1940, to accommodate the former stallholders whilst providing additional facilities.

A circular design was chosen to encourage circulation and offer various entrances to customers, and it was given a a flat roof in order to create a car park.

A much-loved feature of the old market was the merry-go-round, and so when the new market was built, a children’s merry-go-round, designed by David Mason with models of vehicles manufactured in Coventry, was installed. It still sits in the market today.

When the market celebrated its golden anniversary, they ran a special event selling everything at 1958 prices. At the time, the Telegraph went down to find out what some of the original sellers had to say.

At the time, fruit and veg man Dave Betts, said: “I missed Princess Alexandra’s speech because I was serving 2lbs of pears to my first customer. To start, we had no doors and windows in the circular building and so where I stood with my late father, Arthur, was like a wind tunnel.

“Soon everyone was complaining and so about a year later we got the doors and windows.”

Shoe seller Bill Duffin, who ran his shop Shoe Kings recalled some great times over the years, especially the atmosphere in 1987 when City footballers Lloyd McGrath and Cyrille Regis signed memorabilia following the FA cup win.

At the time, Bill had been part of a group of traders working with American architects Jerde about the shape of the market hall to come.

He said: “We listened to Jerde’s plans and they listened to us. Some people thought their proposals looked coffin-shaped - in the end they agreed with us that circular was a better shape for the market of the future.”

So is Coventry ready for this step towards urban greenery and coworking spaces?

Matt said: “A lot of people are saying it’s great that we should do it. It might be too ambitious but in my view I would love to see the rooftop with a green space, it’s a perfect way of giving back to the city and improving the commercial side of the market. It will also draw in a new crowd of young professionals and make it more of a commercial entity.”

Matt has created a captivating video that transports us to a future Coventry, rich with green spaces and open expanses. Through the video you can see what the market could be in the future, and it looks inviting.

At the moment these drawings form part of an academic project that Matt is undertaking alongside his role at IDP architecture. Whilst he has shared his ideas with the management of Coventry market, at the moment his ideas remain a uptopian design, but who knows what the future holds?

Additional information taken from historicengland.org.uk

You can keep up to date with Matt’s architectural designs on his website: www.mattarchitecture. wordpress.com