Adaptive Re-Use of an Existing Brutalist Building

Chepstow, a small market town on the border of Wales and England, faces criticism for having one of the ‘worst’ highstreets in the UK. When walking through the empty highstreet, it’s easy to forget its rich history as a bustling market town. The new market hall aims to bring life and colour back into the heart of chepstow’s highstreet. A seasonal garden market will provide the community with spaces to grow, to shelter, to socialise, to relax and to shop and will fill the highstreet with new sounds, smell, sights, and colour.

. The key focus of the market hall is not only to bring life back into the heart of Chepstow’s highstreet but to also create a new inter-generational community within Chepstow. Elderly loneliness has become a challenge in the UK, and with over 65s making up 42% of Chepstow’s population, seeking a solution to this is vital for Chepstow’s community. The market hall serves to provide additional third spaces for the community, particularly the elderly, to do activities with friends such as gardening, cooking, and reading.

The ground floor consists of the market hall; the first floor contains a community kitchen and café where hot meals are served to those in need using the produce grown on site; and the second floor contains a warm quiet space for reading and relaxing. Each floor opens onto a garden. Originally situated at the centre of the highstreet was a neglected 1960s brutalist building with two under-utilised public squares either side. A key aim was to preserve the site’s Highstreet by re-using parts of the existing building such as its frame, and parts of its stone and concrete façade but also to introduce a new colourful feature into the highstreet using a new material: Corten steel. The existing stone façade and new Corten steel façade create an interesting dynamic between the new and the old.

By subtracting sections from the existing structure, a series of glazed courtyard gardens were introduced, providing a climatised greenhouse for growing fruit, vegetables, and flowers all year round. The new market hall will not replace the existing brutalist building but will re-use and regenerate it, providing it with a new lease of life, acting as a catalyst for the growth of Chepstow as a bustling green market town.