World's largest Time Out Market food hall will be at the new Oakridge Centre mall in Vancouver

Nov 11 2022, 6:32 pm

Ever since the 2018 reboot and redesign of the redevelopment of Oakridge Centre, now named as Oakridge Park, it has been known that a significant food hall will be one of the core attractions of the new shopping mall.

The previous notion of a “food hall” was already a clear promise that the experience — both the culinary calibre and the comfort of the dining space — will be a leaps and bounds improvement over the mall’s previous food court.

While food courts are known for their makeup of fast food chains, the elevated concept of a food hall features a mix of fresh artisan food and drink options. Vancouver currently has just one destination that can be considered a food hall: Granville Island Public Market’s various restaurant kiosks is an example of a food hall.

Then came this week’s stunning announcement: As reported by Daily Hive Dished on Tuesday, the internationally renowned Time Out Market chain, headquartered in London, will be the operator of the food hall at Oakridge Park. It will open in 2024, when a significant portion of the new mall rises from the footprint of the demolished old mall and reaches completion.

Over the years, Time Out Market has become synonymous with the very concept of a food hall, and each location is a major attraction for both tourists and local residents.

The first location opened on the central waterfront in Lisbon, Portugal in 2014, and it remained as Time Out Market’s only location until 2019, when five locations opened in Canada and the United States, including Eaton Centre in downtown Montreal. It opened in Dubai in 2021, and three more locations are planned for next year — bringing the total number of locations to 12 by 2024, when the locations in Osaka and Vancouver open.

time out market lisbon portugal

The original 2014-opened Time Out Market in Lisbon, Portugal. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Time Out

The 2019-opened Time Out Market at Eaton Centre in downtown Montreal, Quebec. (Tyler Jadah/Daily Hive)

Based on Daily Hive Urbanized’s compilation of the total floor area of all Time Out Market locations, the Vancouver location at Oakridge Park will be Time Out Market’s largest location by a wide margin. It will also boast the most number of seats.

Time Out Market Vancouver will have a total floor area of 69,000 sq ft spanning two indoor levels, containing a curated high-quality mix of 17 live cooking kitchens with a wide range of cuisines, three bars, and a coffee shop, along with a stage, and art and cultural spaces. The mezzanine, the upper indoor level, will include a signature cocktail lounge, an event space, and a demonstration kitchen.

There will be a combined total of 1,400 seats within the indoor and outdoor dining spaces, including on the lower indoor dining level, the upper indoor event space, and the large outdoor patio on the upper level, which opens up to the nine-acre public park on the mall’s rooftop.

Here is Daily Hive Urbanized’s breakdown of all existing and future Time Out Market locations globally:

  • Lisbon (opened in 2014) — 32,000 sq ft with 900 seats and 26 kitchens/kiosks
  • Miami (opened in 2019) — 18,000 sq ft with 320 seats and 22 kitchens/kiosks
  • New York City (opened in 2019) — 21,000 sq ft with 630 seats and 24 kitchens/kiosks
  • Boston (opened in 2019) — 25,500 sq ft with 636 seats and 18 kitchens/kiosks
  • Montreal (opened in 2019) — 40,000 sq ft with 550 seats and 20 kitchens/kiosks
  • Chicago (opened in 2019) — 50,000 sq ft with 600 seats and 22 kitchens/kiosks
  • Dubai (opened in 2021) — 43,000 sq ft with 20 kitchens/kiosks
  • London (2023 opening) — 33,000 sq ft with 500 seats and 20 kitchens/kiosks
  • Prague (2023 opening) — 25,000 sq ft with 585 seats and 16 kitchen/kiosks
  • Cape Town (2023 opening) — 27,000 sq ft with 750 seats and 18 kitchens/kiosks
  • Osaka (2024 opening) — 31,000 sq ft with 17 kitchens/kiosks
  • Vancouver (2024 opening) — 69,000 sq ft with 1,400 seats and 21 kitchens/kiosks

The newest locations place a greater emphasis on offering a multi-faceted experience beyond food, with the food hall configuration also providing space for some retail and events. Such a concept also aligns with local developer Westbank’s vision of having event-friendly spaces, both indoor and outdoor, scattered across the new mall.

Time Out Vancouver at Oakridge Park will also be more than two and a half times larger than the food hall opening within The Post in downtown Vancouver, the new office and retail complex with Amazon’s new corporate offices. The Post’s 26,000 sq ft food hall will be locally operated by Surrey-based The Joseph Richard Group (JRG), while both The Post and Oakridge Park share the same owner — QuadReal Property Group.

As for the interior design of Time Out Vancouver, there are no updated artistic renderings available showing the intricate details of what the two-storey space will look like.

But 2021/2022 artistic renderings that show a revised design of the original 2018 “The Kitchen” concept still accurately illustrate the volume of space that Time Out Market will have to work within — but the configuration, layout, and material finishings will certainly be quite different from the previous renderings. The food hall will be located directly above an indoor mall corridor, and there will be ample natural light from both the expansive skylights on the public park rooftop and the floor-to-ceiling glass wall enclosures.

Previous design concepts for Oakridge Park’s food hall, the future space of Time Out Market Vancouver:

Oakridge Centre Vancouver

Outdated concept: 2018 artistic rendering of the previous interior design of “The Kitchen” food hall within the Oakridge Park mall redevelopment. This design does not illustrate the upcoming changes in the design for Time Out Market Vancouver. (Westbank)

Oakridge Centre Vancouver

Outdated concept: 2018 artistic rendering of the previous interior design of “The Kitchen” food hall within the Oakridge Park mall redevelopment. This outdated design does not illustrate the forthcoming design changes for Time Out Market Vancouver. (Westbank)

oakridge park mall food hall 2021

Outdated concept: 2021 artistic rendering of the previous interior design of “The Kitchen” food hall within the Oakridge Park mall redevelopment. This outdated design does not illustrate the forthcoming design changes for Time Out Market Vancouver. (Westbank)

All Time Out Market locations carry a similar bold interior design motif, if not slightly industrial, to the original Lisbon location, while also adopting a flair of their locale. For example, the interior design of the newest location in Dubai carries Arabesque influences, with inspiration from the desert landscapes, and columns wrapped in terracotta tiles from Lisbon. As well, the Dubai location has glass ceilings that pour natural light into the atrium-like food hall space — not entirely dissimilar to the food hall volume of Oakridge Park.

“The Time Out Market design for Vancouver features a number of innovations, while staying true to what makes Time Out Market such an exciting destination. Their values align perfectly with our vision for Oakridge Park and we’re looking forward to creating a global destination together here in Vancouver,” Ariele Peterson, a spokesperson for Westbank, told Daily Hive Urbanized.

“We took inspiration from the World’s Fair, envisioning a community gathering place that celebrates Vancouver’s multiculturalism through food and Time Out Market has created a concept that shares these values, centred around bringing together the best culinary and cultural experiences in their cities.”

Time Out Market Dubai

Time Out Market in Dubai, UAE. (Time Out Market)

Time Out Market Chicago

Time Out Market in Chicago. (Time Out Market)

Time Out Market New York City

Time Out Market in New York City. (Time Out Market)

Time Out Market Vancouver will account for just one small fraction of the 1.2 million sq ft retail area of the new mall — twice the size of the now-demolished previous mall.

There will also be over 800,000 sq ft of office space, and more than 3,300 homes for over 6,000 residents, including a mix of social housing, rental housing, and condominiums. The total floor area of the new complex on the 28-acre site will reach over five million sq ft, with 15 buildings up to 52 storeys establishing a distinct urban pinnacle in Vancouver’s emerging Cambie Street corridor skyline.

Other than the rooftop public park, the new complex will also feature public facilities such as a City-owned community and recreation centre and a replacement Vancouver Public Library branch.

While most of the new retail, including the food hall, will open in late 2024, the residential towers will reach completion between 2024 and 2027.

In order to adequately serve the expected surge in SkyTrain ridership to the mall, the developer is planning a major capacity upgrade for SkyTrain Oakridge-41st Avenue Station, including the construction of additional escalators for the existing street entrance, and a new underground retail-lined pedestrian corridor between the station concourse and the indoor mall to effectively provide the station with a second entrance.

oakridge centre oakridge park construction july 2022

July 2022 construction progress on Oakridge Park (Oakridge Centre) in Vancouver. (EllisDon)

oakridge park oakridge centre mall 2022 rendering

2022 artistic rendering of the revised design of the Oakridge Park (Oakridge Centre) redevelopment. (Westbank)

oakridge park oakridge centre mall 2022 rendering

2022 artistic rendering of the revised design of the Oakridge Park (Oakridge Centre) redevelopment. (Westbank)

oakridge park oakridge centre mall 2022 rendering

2022 artistic rendering of the revised design of the Oakridge Park (Oakridge Centre) redevelopment. (Westbank)

oakridge park oakridge centre mall 2022 rendering

2022 artistic rendering of the revised design of the Oakridge Park (Oakridge Centre) redevelopment. (Westbank)

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