Sector
Civic , Community, Retail, Heritage
Location
Rochester, Upstate New York
Climate
Continental Dfb
Design Team
Timothy Cope, Lead Architect
3D Illustrations
Equinox Architecture
Equinox Architecture was invited to participate in the New York High Falls Riverfront Market Design Competition, presented by Buildner in partnership with AIA Rochester as part of its annual 'Designers Unleashed' initiative, alongside Community Design Rochester and Future Reality Services.
The competition challenges participants to envision a new civic destination within the evolving landscape of Rochester’s future High Falls State Park, a transformative riverfront project that reconnects the city with the dramatic Genesee River gorge and its industrial heritage.
Reconnecting River, City and Community
The High Falls Riverfront Market design response was conceived as a new civic landmark at the threshold between Rochester’s industrial past and its regenerative future. Located at the Smokestack Portal, the proposal transforms a historically industrial site into a vibrant public destination, combining a year-round marketplace with a gateway into the future High Falls State Park.
The concept, “The Timber Exchange,” draws inspiration from the working landscapes that once defined the Genesee River. The falls powered the mills, factories, foundries and warehouses that fuelled Rochester’s growth. Rather than reproducing this industrial past, the proposal reinterprets its architectural language through contemporary mass timber, reclaimed brick, weathering steel and landscape. At its heart, the project is conceived as civic infrastructure: a place where architecture, landscape, commerce and public life converge.
A series of interconnected timber market halls are embedded within the site’s topography and organised around a central civic plaza. A distinctive sawtooth roofscape unifies the buildings, drawing inspiration from the historic factory buildings that once lined the gorge. Reinterpreted through a contemporary architectural language, the roof provides generous daylight to the market spaces while establishing a recognisable landmark visible from the park, surrounding neighbourhoods and river corridor.
The design is informed by three defining layers of place:
-
The Genesee River Gorge – the natural force that shaped Rochester.
-
Industrial Rochester – mills, foundries, rail infrastructure, brick warehouses and steel bridges.
-
The Regenerative Future – low-carbon construction, ecological restoration and renewed civic life.
The proposal represents a transition from an extractive industrial economy toward a more renewable, resilient and regenerative future.
Gateway to High Falls State Park
The market is conceived as the principal arrival experience to the future High Falls State Park. Rather than a singular building, the project establishes a sequence of indoor and outdoor spaces that transition visitors from the urban fabric into the dramatic landscape of the gorge.
Terraces, elevated walkways and viewing platforms progressively reveal views toward High Falls and the Genesee River, transforming movement through the site into an unfolding civic and landscape experience.
A contemporary observation tower, referencing the historic smokestacks of the district, acts as both landmark and orientation device. Constructed from weathering steel and timber, it provides panoramic views across the falls, river gorge and city skyline while reinforcing the industrial identity of the site.
“The New Mill”
Historically, the power of High Falls drove Rochester’s flour mills and manufacturing economy. The proposal reimagines the market as the 21st-century mill, not a place for processing materials, but a place for exchanging food, culture, ideas and community. Where the historic mills transformed grain and raw materials into products, The New Mill transforms public interaction into social value.
The architecture retains the robust scale, rhythm and materiality associated with Rochester’s industrial heritage while replacing carbon-intensive construction with low-carbon mass timber systems. The result is an architecture that acknowledges the past while expressing a fundamentally different future.
Mass Timber as a Symbol of Transformation
Mass timber forms the architectural and structural heart of the proposal, representing Rochester’s transition from an extractive industrial economy toward a regenerative future.
Exposed glulam frames and CLT floor and roof systems create warm, human-scaled public spaces while reducing embodied carbon. Timber is deliberately contrasted with reclaimed brick, weathering steel and salvaged stone. This material dialogue establishes a clear relationship between past and future:
-
Steel references bridges, rail infrastructure and Rochester’s manufacturing legacy.
-
Brick recalls the warehouses, mills and industrial buildings of the High Falls district.
-
Timber represents renewal, renewable resources and environmental stewardship.
-
Landscape reconnects the built environment to the ecological systems of the Genesee River gorge.
