The 8th Street Market in Bentonville was recently selected for an AIA Central States Region Design Excellence Award. The mixed-use development was given top marks for its adaptive reuse of an old poultry processing center. Hufft Firm provided the innovative design for this project.

A renovation of a blighted Tyson Foods processing plant, the 8th Street Market is a 75,000sf food hub that combines food production, brewery, retail and restaurants with one of the nation’s premiere culinary programs. The design creates a unique destination for the public catalyzed by increased interest with local food production and an adjacent bike trail system. By transforming the plant both aesthetically and functionally, the newly formed Market District has a solid anchor energizing further development. The Vine is a 580 ft shad structure that creates a covered band of activity around the building. Inspired by a combination of traditional market typology and agricultural vernacular it provides opportunities for interaction and activity while integrating landscape and site amenities. The perforations are an abstraction of Arkansas’ Buffalo River, designed in collaboration with a local artist and fabricated by Zahner Metals.

Jury Notes: This project shows a real commitment to its community. The adaptive reuse of this non-descript poultry plant is transformed through strategic subtraction, program zoning and circulation. The exterior interventions make for a memorable user experience. The tectonic steel canopy becomes a dynamic armature through the natural elements of sun, wind and rain.

– 2017 AIA CENTRAL STATES DESIGN AWARDS Press release on the AIA Nebraska website.

The AIA Central States Regions includes projects located in, or designed by architects, in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Iowa.