One of most anticipated food halls comes to Austin
EEA Consulting Engineers did the MEP design for one of “the seven most anticipated food halls in the world” according to Money Inc.
The downtown hub Fareground at One Eleven recently opened as a marketplace and park. The project reimagined how the corner of 2nd Street and Congress Avenue could be used, repurposing the area to be Austin’s very first food hall. You can read EEA’s news article here.
Project Details
EEA was hired to design the interior lobby, the market space/food hall, the outdoor plaza, and the jewel box shell.
The work EEA did was to conduct existing system capacity studies, to design supporting MEP system renovations and additions, as well as to design upgrades to the interior lobby space and plaza.
As part of the outdoor design, EEA designed the supporting electrical and lighting systems for the plaza and had fun developing a sustainable fountain.
“The fountain utilizes condensate from the interior of the building. Normally, this condensate is wasted, but can be reused for a variety of purposes, and in this case, we directed the condensate to the fountain feature, so the fountain does not consume any additional water,” EEA Project Manager Bryan Simler said.
Challenges in Location & Existing Surroundings
Project challenges included the location and the existing conditions. The space is in the first floor of a downtown high rise building used for other purposes. The food hall was imagined as part of the larger building, and fitting and maneuvering the MEP systems, the ductwork, and other mechanical equipment required creative problem solving.
Additionally, Bryan shared, “Kitchen spaces have very specific requirements for how mechanical systems can be designed and placed, so having this space surrounded by other spaces and floors made the engineering more challenging and rewarding at the same time.”
To read more about the Fareground food hall and EEA’s role click here to read our news story.
This project was also featured in the World Landscape Architect Magazine here.
