The Forks Market

The Forks Market was once two separate stables for dray wagon horses for the railway’s express cartage divisions. The former stables were successfully joined into one building early in the Forks’ regeneration. Like every structure in the former East Yards, the stables were coated outside and in with coal soot and diesel residue, which had to be removed. In 2016, Number Ten Architectural Group designed a major updating of the Forks Market. The site’s industrial past inspired the new direction of the interior design. Raw steel, hand-forged blacksmith work and wood detailing reinforce the character of the historic architecture. An exposed steel structure inspired by the architectural language of Canada’s rail history stretches over the beverage kiosk. Hand-forged steel detailing by a local blacksmith references a traditional industrial art.

Outside the attached Forks Market Tower ties the two stable sections and atrium together. It rises six storeys in glass and steel beneath a pyramidal roof to provide a view of the rivers and city from an exterior platform. A must-see feature of the Forks, the tower is sensational at night.