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Ron Paul has been entrenched in development of a public market in Portland for so long that he’s looking forward to working with Snohetta, a Norwegian architecture firm unfamiliar with the city.

Craig Dykers, Snohetta’s founding partner, and Nicolas Rader, director of the firm’s San Francisco office, this past spring toured the parking lot off of Southwest Naito Parkway, at the west end of the Morrison Bridge, where the James Beard Public Market is planned. They were invited by Paul, executive director of the Historic Portland Public Market Foundation.

鈥淲e walked the site, and (Dykers) and Nic Rader were just enchanted,鈥� he said. 鈥�(For a Portland resident,) it fades into the background. But for someone coming into the city for the first time, it piques you in a different way. It was really electric.鈥�

This month, Snohetta officially signed on as lead architect and landscape architect for the James Beard Public Market 鈥� named for the late chef, cookbook author, syndicated columnist and television personality who was born in Portland. To kick off design work, the firm next month will host a design forum for project stakeholders and a community open house to gather public feedback.

Paul, who has been working for 14 years to make the year-round, indoor-outdoor public market a reality, said he greatly appreciates efforts to date of local design firms SERA Architects, Studio Jeffreys and Mayer/Reed; he said they will continue to contribute to the project. Snohetta will bring an extra edge, he said. The firm has worked on a number of high-profile projects involving public space, including the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet opera house in Oslo. In New York, the firm designed a reconstruction of Times Square and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum pavilion.

鈥淭he coming together is really about honoring and celebrating what the local team has accomplished (and) now bringing in fresh, talented eyes,鈥� Paul said. 鈥淲e’ve gone from vision to concept and now we move into design.鈥�

The initial design stages will involve extensive public outreach, especially because Snohetta staffers are new to work in Portland, Rader said.

鈥淥f course Portland is a very unique market,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s very important to understand the culture. What attracted us to this was the opportunity to have a positive impact on the public space in Portland. It makes people aware of Portland as a place and the importance of their food and architecture.鈥�

Early concepts created by SERA Architects call for an outdoor plaza between two indoor market halls totaling 93,000 square feet with more than 100 stalls for food, beverages and flowers, a teaching kitchen and an event venue. Snohetta staffers will use input from the upcoming community open house to further refine those plans.

鈥淲e’re able to bring that public nature beyond Portland while also tapping into the public knowledge,鈥� Rader said. 鈥淲e’re approaching this process all ears. We’re interested in people’s stories on how they hope to use the market. We’re really there to be a sponge and take in all the information and figuring out what this market wants to be.鈥�

The community open house is the start of a larger public engagement effort as design moves forward, Paul said.

鈥淭he aggregate of successful market experiences that we can have anywhere in the world is what we want people to experience,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat’s the magic that Snohetta brings is crystallizing those experiences and translating it into a design where form and function are so closely fused that most visitors will think the market has been there forever.鈥�

Rader said he’s not intimidated by the challenging project site, which is dominated by car ramps connecting to the Morrison Bridge. The curved ramps frame two clover leaf-shaped market sites. Snohetta, for both the Times Square and the Sept. 11 memorial projects, navigated complex urban sites to ensure traffic flow for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists while synthesizing the needs of numerous stakeholders, he said.

鈥淔rom a site complexity standpoint, we have a lot of work with nearly impossible sites,鈥� he said.

When Paul travels, one of the first places he visits is a public market because the spaces often serve as community hubs; however, Portland lacks such an asset. He knows exactly what he wants to experience when he walks into the James Beard Public Market.

鈥淚 can’t visualize what I want it to look like, but I can taste, smell, hear what I want it to be,鈥� he said.

Construction of the James Beard Public Market is anticipated to start in fall 2016. A grand opening is scheduled for spring 2018.

James Beard Public Market

Anticipated construction start date: fall 2016

Anticipated construction completion date: spring 2018

Architects: Snohetta, SERA Architects, Studio Jeffreys

Landscape architect: Mayer/Reed

Engineers: KPFF Consulting Engineers, Interface Engineering

Other associates: Melvin Mark Cos.

听

If you go 鈥�

What: James Beard Public Market community open house

When: Dec. 13 from 2 to 5 p.m. (Portland Mayor Charlie Hales and the project architects will give a brief presentation at 2:30 p.m.)

Where: Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, 1945 S.E. Water Ave.

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