New Friends Colony Market

Overview

Delhi has been, since historical times, remained a favoured destination for shoppers specifically for its traditional bazaars. In the past few decades, Delhi has seen a major decline due to the shift in social strata and values. While the real estate market boomed, these markets those were once the jewel of the city starved for footfall. New Friends Colony Market belonging to this league also experienced a decline and an imbalance on the socio-economic scale. Changing preferences among the people in search of comfort level, shifting of brands, the tricky network of entry points and scattered parking creating confusion, lead to the slow death of the market.

Concept

The main challenge of the NFC market which was its strength in a way was the diversity of scale, price, function, user preferences. NFC markets re-planning started with an understanding of socio-economic islands, their strengths, and requirements with the aim to bring back the footfall. One of the key things was to understand the user and the native strength of the market. The strategy was to address individual islands and define treatments for relevant streets and plazas and at the same time not to neglect the global infrastructure and unique experience of the interesting mix and managing the flow along with.

The base case was to rejuvenate the market by not only creating beautiful things but also providing the facilities which go deep into the market. The rejuvenation involved the amalgamation of cultural context and real estate concept. NFC market was a buzzing mix of various strata and so the aim was that the ambiance should reflect the facilities and proper management of public wealth.

Design

The first level intervention was at the global level to channelize vehicle movements, designate proper entrance and close the redundant ones. Parking design had options for stages for long hours, short hours and two wheels bays. Loading-unloading bays were earmarked in the restaurant areas and solid waste pickup points were identified. Public Toilets, changing station for infants, medical and security officials were located at prime entrances. The market was modernized with signage and facilities.

On the inside, limiting the intervention only for the public realm, the entire pathway was designed on a single level with an effective rainwater management system. The texture of the pavement for the main routes and the sub main routes lead to a sense of self-discovery in the market maze. Manholes were treated to be flushed with pavement level. Identification of zones with individual needs was established. Maps with signage were placed in various locations creating synonymous standards of shop signage in both the directions hiding elevation upliftment through designated hoarding spaces covering of outdoor AC units.

For zone with high end retail, a uniform frontage with signage standardization was created and building facade was minimally altered to create the street look. Its public realm was also provided with linear patterns of seating and plantation in the central verge. For eatery zone surrounding the place, spaces for outdoor tables with shade and dusting were installed. For zone with low end retail, a more open bazaar intervention with the semi-shaded street was created to keep the harsh Delhi heat in control. For zone with street food facilities, permanent concrete bench area and standing tables were created along with disposal facilities. A signage strategy was uniformly applied across the market. Key entrances clearly marked facilities in the market.

Lots of strategies were deployed which will have a low effort value considering multiple ownerships and complexities as well resulting in a highly homogeneous and standardised solution of the market as the final product.

Key features

Channelizing the vehicle movements, designate proper entrance and close the redundant ones were the basic steps undertaken towards the NFC market redesign.
Parking lots offered options such as stages for long hours, short hours and two wheels bays in order to decongest the vehicle movements.
Prime entrances were made user-friendly with facilities such as Public toilets, changing station for infants, medical facilities and security offices.
Optimal use of resources and safety gained more focus through the implementation of Rainwater harvesting and facilities to treat sudden appearances of manholes.
Semi shaded streets- A passive cooling method to control heat gain, permanent concrete benches, and standing tables, standard signage have all made it a fruitful experience for the users of the NFC market.