CLIENT: Delaware North
LOCATION: Detroit, MI
YEAR: 2016-2017
The District Market features five different quick-service food stations: Sugar and Brew, featuring coffee and baked goods from a local bakery, Zingerman’s; Greens (salad bar); Handmade (sandwiches); Grill (meats); Mex and Co (Mexican cuisine). In addition, a centrally located bar called On Ice serves drinks, and another section, Take Away, sells grab-and-go items. Each station is distinguished by freestanding lettering within canopies finished in different materials. The market’s dining areas provides seating for 203.
The resulting food stations offer everything from salads to hearty meals and cocktails. Customers can create their own meals or choose from handmade sandwiches, burritos, pastries, and coffee from Zingerman’s of Ann Arbor, MI. The architects worked with the New York graphic design firm Patricia Spencer Design to give each station its own identity, while maintaining a cohesive look throughout the interior. Large letters spelling out the station name are made of acrylic and metal, set onto canopies consisting of copper, lumber, iron ore, steel, stone, and concrete resin, and strategically illuminated to act as signs. The faces of the serving bars are similarly finished in different materials to provide each station with a distinctive character, including porcelain tile resembling wood and Arts and Crafts-style patterned concrete tile. Concrete floors and concrete-resin tables are durable enough to withstand constant use.
