A unique cultural and historical icon within Cape Town, the Adderley Street Flower Market has long influenced Cape Town’s livelihood and heritage. The space endures as a symbol of resilience and autonomy. During apartheid, flower selling was one of the few ways business owners of colour could operate businesses in the city centre, allowing them to maintain their economic independence and cultural expression. 

 The Flower Market, though weathered and underutilised, emerges as a key heritage asset. The roots of many flower sellers stretch back to the ‘Blomdraers’ of Constantia, an Afrikaans term referring to the flower seller who would grow and collect flowers to sell in Simon’s Town, Wynberg, and, notably, Adderley Street. Despite these challenges, the flower market has prevailed — a testament to the resilience of those who have been marginalised. 

Co-designed with the flower sellers, the layout accommodates trade opportunities with safer stalls, storage, and visibility, opening a clear pedestrian boulevard. The new roof structure frames the Bishop Lightfoot Memorial fountain, reinforcing the market’s ties to its civic and cultural setting. The design team extends its gratitude to the flower sellers, whose insights, stories, and lived experience were central to shaping the market and ensuring its legacy endures.

 A contemporary design

The proposed design for the Trafalgar Flower Market encompasses various strategies to address current challenges, enhance overall functionality, and recognise the previously overlooked importance of the flower sellers. The design team's approach consolidates the market on one side of a new street, concentrating new display space with services, storage, and shopfront units. 

A sweeping new roof is proposed, reimagining the arch motif of the area — not as a colonial reiteration, but a contemporary landmark. This structure opens up the ground plane, facilitating movement and trade, streamlining flower-seller arrangements, and improving pedestrian circulation. Comprising 10 double stalls, the market infrastructure will be upgraded to create a lively, world-class shopping experience. The new roof structure will provide coverage for the entire market area, accommodating various weather conditions, and offering better protection for both flower sellers and customers. The studio has designed it to protrude slightly along the roadway to lean into the street and announce the market to the city.