Washington Fish Market

The Project

This 31,000 SF multi-building project is a redevelopment of the oldest continuously operating open-air fish market in the U.S. Six “land-side” structures include a Market Hall (building and terrace), Market Pavilion, Market Sheds, Brewery/Distillery (building and terrace), Historic Oyster Bar, and a Service Building. This food-centric retail precinct revitalizes an historic structure and supports The Wharf, Washington DC’s premier waterfront development.

Structural Features

All of the buildings had their own unique design challenges. All buildings except the Oyster Bar were steel framed with composite concrete on metal deck supported floors, concrete structural slab with grade beams at the lowest level, and a micropile foundation. All of the buildings are built over reclaimed land that was soft fill, oyster shell, and stone. Two of the buildings were constructed over a wood-framed, wood pile-supported relieving platform built to the edge of the Potomac River over 100 years ago.

The Oyster Shed is a historic masonry structure with a wood-framed roof adjacent to a steel-framed shed. The roofs were reinforced with partial replacement and the masonry walls were cleaned and repaired. The entire structure was leveled and resupported on piles.

The Service Building was constructed below the existing I395 freeway and surrounded one of the primary highway supports. Due to concerns from Federal Highway, the building foundation structure included large upturned, pile supported grade beams that spanned across the existing highway support foundations.

The entire building site is within the floor plain and perimeter walls were reinforced for flood water loads, openings were designed to accommodate an aluminum “log” flood system, and the historic building was surrounded by a pop-up flood wall.