In any given city, at any given time of the year, you can always find a local market and for many, these markets are the heart of that city. Not only do they offer a sense of community, but they also provide a glimpse into the local culture and the people who make it come alive. And for the savvy shopper, who enjoys the feast and the find, public markets are like one big smorgasbord – there is incredible variety and people always want to go back for more. The St. Lawrence Market, at the corner of Jarvis and Front Streets in Toronto, is one of those places for Christine Couvelier. Although she now calls Victoria, BC home, she often travels back to Toronto for work, and to visit her daughter, and always makes time in her busy schedule to shop at the market.

The St. Lawrence Market has been a destination for locals and tourists for over 200 years and has been in the list of top 25 markets worldwide. In 2012, the National Geographic even named it the best food market in the world. However, for Christine the connection is much more personal as she grew up in Toronto and then raised her daughter nearby in Midtown. “The market has always been part of my life and has been a special place for me, especially the North Market,” says Christine. “When I had my catering company, a lot of my suppliers were at the market, so I was there often to pick up fruits and vegetables.”

The St. Lawrence Market Complex, established in 1803, includes the St. Lawrence Hall as well as the North and South Market Buildings. Not only is it Toronto’s oldest and best-established food market; it is also one of the city’s most treasured historic sites. The market, however, has had many stages in its evolution including that the South Market building was the first City Hall as well as the first police station.

The North Market has also gone through a few transformations. Initially held outdoors, it was eventually replaced with a rustic wooden structure and over the years a series of more permanent buildings were built. After falling victim to the Great Fire of Toronto in 1849, it was rebuilt again in 1850.

Up until recently, unlike the iconic red brick South Market building, the North Market was a one-storey utilitarian structure that was built in 1967 — the fifth structure to stand on that site. According to Christine, despite reminding her of an old cement gymnasium, “It was always exciting and bustling, and filled with food you wanted to taste and to try during the Saturday Markets. And on Sundays, there was sometimes an antique market. But it was just one level and very very old and in 2010, a proposal was put forward that the North Market, the farmer's market, be rebuilt."

However, because the farmer's didn't have any money, the City of Toronto came up with the idea to redevelop the site and launched a competition inviting architects from around the world to submit designs. The goal was to complete the project by 2014 and maximize the use of the site with a parking garage underneath and eleven city traffic courts above. Proposals were submitted, and eventually the city was able to select five finalists.

And here is where another personal connection emerges for Christine. Each architectural firm had to build a model for their vision and their design, and the City pulled together a jury to deliberate over which design would win. There was a court expert, a city historian, and someone from the St. Lawrence Market representing the farmers and their needs. However, they also wanted to include a culinary voice.

“I was living in Victoria at the time but I got a call and was told I would be that culinary voice,” says Christine. “I was thrilled and then spent a week as part of the jury, locked away looking at the designs and hearing the pros and cons and learning about all of the things that were needed. We really wanted it to be a destination. We wanted it to be more than just a Saturday farmer's market.”

The winning design came from an architectural firm in England and despite being ready to start the process, the project experienced several delays for various reasons — including the discovery of historical artifacts on the site dating back to the 1800s. “As a result,” says Christine, “they had to stop construction to ensure all artifacts were carefully removed and preserved.”