Stackt Market

As the largest shipping container market in Canada, stackt is ambitious in both its scale and its plan. On the ground level the new containers thread in and out to create a network of detached buildings with single and double-height interiors. These were retrofitted to provide heating, cooling, as well as the necessary power and water infrastructure to support small businesses. Ramps ensure accessibility for strollers and mobility devices. The containers’ arrangement creates side streets that enhance the pedestrian experience, and courtyards ideal for cultural programming. While containers conventionally lend themselves to grid-like formations, on the third storey reclaimed containers zig-zag across the site, providing some dynamism and presence from Bathurst Street, the condo towers and vantage points on the Gardiner Expressway. The storefronts are deliberately uniform to reduce visual clutter and also level the playing eld between the independent tenants and their more experienced neighbors, and with some of the units reserved for pop-ups, a visit is like a treasure hunt to discover new vendors with each season. Giant acted as a design consultant, design architect, and fabricator for the event spaces, retailers, restaurants, services, and galleries which were built using 120 x 40 ft containers and 20 x 20 ft containers.