site.btaCentral Market Hall Renovation, Farmers' Market Blagoevgrad Win at 6th Bulgarian Architecture Awards

A total of 34 projects competed in the sixth edition of the Bulgarian Architecture Awards 2024 organized by the Chamber of Architects in Bulgaria. The big winners, Reconstruction and Renovation of the Central Market Hall in Sofia and Farmers' Market Blagoevgrad, were announced during a ceremony at the centre for contemporary arts Toplocentrala in Sofia on Thursday.

As is tradition, the winning projects may be nominated for the prestigious European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture / Mies van der Rohe Awards.

The grand prize in the Cultural and Historical Heritage Preservation category went to the project dedicated to reconstructing and redeveloping the Central Market Hall in Sofia. The project's authors are architects Mariya Popmarkova, Irena Belcheva and Andrey Hodkevich. The building was constructed between 1909 and 1911 according to the design of architect Naum Torbov.

The grand prize in the New Projects category went to United Master Architects who carried out the reconstruction of the Farmer's Market in Blagoevgrad. The project aimed to transform the market into a modern, attractive and multifunctional public space that expands and develops the pedestrian area of the city.

Prof. Ivan Nikiforov received a lifetime achievement award for his work that has been transforming and improving Bulgarian cities since the second half of the 20th century.

The competition ran under the auspices of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works and the Ministry of Culture. Sponsors of the event were Etem, Hidro Mat, Profilink, Baumit, Laufen, Group of Trading and Transport, Confindustria Bulgaria and the National Association of Real Estate Developers.