Roadside Market in BadiauriBadiauri, GE2026

We are pleased to present our architectural concept for a market dedicated to local food products, located next to the village of Badiauri in Sagarejo Municipality. This Kakheti route has always been an active trade artery, and roadside selling of shoti bread, cheese and traditional sweets has become the region's gastronomic calling card. The project aims not to let this tradition disappear, but to preserve it and transform it into a safe, contemporary space.

The site is a 9,241 m² triangular plot bounded on one side by the Tbilisi–Bakurtsikhe–Lagodekhi highway, now under construction, and on the other by the village. The complex acts as a buffer, shielding the residential area from the highway while creating an open public and commercial space. Visitor parking occupies the wide western part of the plot, while staff parking and a logistics building sit in the narrow eastern tip.

The defining element is a large, continuous zigzag roof that echoes the rows of Kakheti's vineyards and the profile of traditional farm buildings. Wide alleys between the trading modules follow the axis of the prevailing north-west/south-east winds, so air moves freely through the market, providing natural cross-ventilation and a comfortable microclimate under the shade of the roof.

The layout accommodates up to 200 trading units: stalls with traditional tone ovens, small vendor modules, a flexible area for seasonal stalls, storage, shared sanitary facilities and open terraces with tables. Designed as an adaptable platform, the market can first serve the roughly 55 vendors active in the area today and grow to its full capacity without further structural intervention.

A white-painted steel frame forms a light skeleton; the pavilions are clad in terracotta-coloured metal panels, with counters and display units in natural wood, and brick-red herringbone paving recalls Kakheti's clay and soil. Existing healthy trees are kept within courtyards and recreation areas, and the entire complex is designed for step-free, inclusive access.

Competition design for a roadside market in Badiauri, Kakheti, Georgia — a public and commercial space along the highway. Designed by ISYNC architects.