New Covent Garden Market is the largest wholesale fresh produce market in the UK and prior to redevelopment it covered a site of 57 acres (23 ha).

New Covent Garden Market is the largest wholesale fresh produce market in the UK and prior to redevelopment it covered a site of 57 acres (23 ha). By 2011, when Vinci St Modwen became preferred bidders, the market buildings and surrounding infrastructure were showing their age, which negatively affected the perception of the market. Whilst the movement of goods, pedestrians, forklift trucks and other vehicles were hindered by cluttered hard-standings.



In 2011, BDP working for VSM and their partner CGMA began to develop the planning application for the new market, which was approved in January 2015. Construction started in July 2015 and is being delivered in 19 phases by Vinci Construction and BDP over a 12 year period. The final phase on the retained Market site will complete in 2027.

The new design consolidates the market south of the Vauxhall railway viaduct, releasing 20 acres of surplus land, which is being transformed into a high quality residential neighbourhood along the Linear Park as part of the Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea Opportunity Area including the American and Dutch Embassies.

The new Traders Blocks are aligned north-south and divided into 6m wide traders’ units with vehicle doors facing external yards. External mezzanine and plant access walkways run along the length of each block above the vehicle doors, providing safe pedestrian routes to every trader’s unit as part of the Workplace Transport Strategy. Each block is wrapped by the roof, which is carried throughout the market as a unifying design theme. The ‘Food Exchange’ provides a new front door for the market facing onto the new garden square that links Nine Elms tube station to the new residential neighbourhoods to the north. The new market acts as a catalyst and destination for a new London Food and Horticulture Quarter.

"Business continuity is vital for the traders who work in a very competitive environment with marginal profit margins and need to retain existing customers so that the market can continue to exist. This has resulted in an extended phased construction programme, including the construction of 2 interim traders buildings, that has to be carefully considered and managed to maintain trading and access for all of the businesses operating on the market.

The new market is a state-of-the-art modern facility that meets current building performance targets and provides a food-clean environment. It separates pedestrians from vehicles on the hard-standings creating a safer working environment for traders, buyers and visitors. The new, improved buildings have changed perceptions of the market as a modern, clean, state-of-the-art facility, befitting for the 21st century. The new Food and Horticulture Quarter acts as a focal point for food and horticultural business in the locality and across London."

Paul Mulligan, Architect Director, BDP