North Market Bridge Park
Seven distinct stall designs highlighting the amazing diversity of cultures that exist in Columbus, OH
Designing diverse experiences for local food entrepreneurs
ASTRA STUDIOS designed seven of the stalls at the North Market Bridge Park including Bake Me Happy, Dos Hermanos Tacos, Falafel Kitchen, Gallo’s Pizzeria, Hoyo’s Kitchen, Lan Viet, and Pasta DiToni’s.
Each stall is crafted to be distinctive, showcasing that vendor’s brand, offering and vision while ensuring it met their functional needs as well.
Distinct designs for seven food stalls
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Bake Me Happy
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Dos Hermanos
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Falafel Kitchen
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Hoyo's Kitchen
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Lan Viet
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Gallo's Pizzeria
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Pasta DiToni's
“When Astra Studios was involved I knew that I did not have to worry about that tenant getting over the goal line. They knew what to do and how to do it. They helped create a diversity of experiences by not following a common formula amongst the stalls at Bridge Park.”
Matt Starr
Executive Vice President of Commercial Real Estate and Leasing
Crawford Hoying
Design features
Each vendor had specific aesthetics they wanted to explore, such as using regional motifs associated with the cuisine or certain material finishes they wanted to incorporate to highlight their offerings. Each stall had its own unique set of design parameters, resulting in tailored, vendor specific designs.
A beacon of hope for a recovered future during the pandemic
Project Overview
Astra Studios worked with seven businesses to craft a unique stall experience aligned with each vendor’s brand, offering and vision.
Many of these projects took place in the midst of the global pandemic and required quarantine. Each of these businesses was taking a big risk committing to building out a physical space when no one was allowed out of their homes.
At the time, society did not yet have answers on how long the pandemic would last. The vision of all those involved in creating and executing the North Market Bridge Park became a beacon of hope for a recovered future.
The Design Process
The physical parameters of each stall required different design strategies for each situation, including street facing operable windows, narrow stalls, wide stalls, corner stalls, and the existing interior components of the larger Market.
Astra Studios worked with each vendor to establish the design vision, hone business goals (i.e. having retail space along with food sales), and understand the physical and design requirements of the space. Our goal was to streamline the design and permitting process to get the businesses open and selling their goods as soon as possible.
As architect, interior designer and signage designer, we helped to coordinate all of the disparate parties involved in the process to get approvals and buy-in for designs to proceed and be successful. While the goals and vision for each stall design was guided by the individual vendor, each stall’s final design was a collaborative effort between all the experts and stakeholders involved.
Project Testimonial
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Astra Studios was thoroughly familiar with navigating the challenges the merchants were facing when it came to the permit process and coordinating vendors, such as signage and general contractors.
A handful of North Market Bridge Park merchants needed architectural and design assistance to execute their visions for their storefronts at North Market’s new Dublin location.
Slated to open in 2020, the small business owners were all facing economic challenges related to COVID-19 and Astra Studios jumped in to assist with drawings and permit coordination.
Astra Studios was an integral liaison between the merchants, North Market management, the city of Dublin, vendors, and other partners, executing the design needs of a variety of types of restaurant and grocery concepts - from tacos to fresh pasta. Amanda Dunfield is skilled at communicating complex ideas in a simplistic manner.
The schedule was of utmost importance as multiple projects needed to be simultaneously finished. Astra Studios excelled at accurate timeline forecasts and swift responses on deadline. Astra Studios was truly the backbone of the pre-opening merchant activities, making the rolling soft opening feasible.
Amanda Dunfield and her team were the preferred architecture studio as new businesses came on board, building rapport throughout the merchant community for projects maintaining both budget and schedule.
North Market Bridge Park has had an enormous impact on the northwest Columbus community, bringing small, unique concepts to Dublin. Customers who don’t regularly visit the downtown market can now experience the best-in-class offerings found in Columbus’ historic public market, including a variety of cultural and grocery businesses.”
Molly Harris
Director of Operations & Leasing
northmarket.org