Central Market Hall of Sofia Reconstruction and Restoration

The Central Market Hall of Sofia (1911) by Naum Torbov stands at the city’s functional, cultural and religious core, above the archaeological strata of Ulpia Serdica. Conceived as a covered market, it became a symbolic public interior with a pivotal role in Sofia’s modern life. The project restores the historic façade and renews the main hall for retail use, recovering its original spatial composition. The subfloor is reprogrammed as a multifunctional cultural layer with a museological exposition, exhibition space and event forum, binding commerce and heritage into one public system.

The project has three main focus points – Historic Façade, Main hall and Subterrain. The façade is conserved through cleaning, repair and replacement of low-grade past additions with traditional work. In the main hall, later partitions and galleries are demolished to recover Torbov’s axial logic and building hierarchy highlighting the steel roof structure. The retail space is divided in pavilion structures following the idea of an open public square. Below, the archaeology of Ulpia Serdica is used as a regulating structure for a new cultural floor combining museological display, exhibition transforming space for events. The approach is subtractive rather than additive — conservation, clearing and calibrated insertion — reactivating the building as a two-layer public space. In this way the project aims to reintroduce the Central Market not only as a space for trade but as a public interior and cultural hub, responding to the renewed activation of the surrounding historic district.

The façade restoration included cleaning of limestone, removal of non-authentic gas-concrete and styrofoam décor, re-making ornaments with three-layer traditional plaster and roof repair. All retail services are relocated underground at the west access, keeping the façade free of new additions. Inside, the longitudinal galleries are demolished and a new steel terrace floor is added at the west; the arched perimeter windows are re-exposed and the steel roof is legible. The tiled floor pattern follows the main axes. The subterrain builds identity through the coexistence of structure and archaeology. To preserve the roof structure, all MEP is routed in the subterrain ceiling between new vaults following the roof rhythm, maintaining height. The floor is stamped concrete with patterns where archaeology is absent. The cultural zone is a flexible forum with sliding furniture walls allowing exhibitions, events and daily use to coexist with the museological layer.