A 10,000 sqm community retail completed in 2023, shaped as a green, walkable market landscape rather than a single plaza.
The brief
The Ground Market is conceived as a contemporary community marketplace that retains the openness and familiarity of traditional market environments. The project seeks to balance the vibrancy of an open-air market with the comfort and legibility of a modern retail setting. Central to the design ambition is the creation of generous green space that delivers everyday public value—an environment where circulation, shade, and places to pause collectively support the informal and social nature of market life in Phnom Penh.
Rather than organizing the site as a single expansive plaza, the landscape strategy structures the market as a sequence of interconnected outdoor rooms. Broad, shaded promenades establish the primary circulation routes, guiding visitors through the site while offering protection from the tropical climate. From these main paths, narrower secondary routes branch outward, leading to quieter seating pockets arranged beneath tree canopies.
Scope of Work
Masterplan & Landscape Design, Architecture Design, Retail Kiosk Design,
This spatial arrangement reflects the familiar rhythm of traditional markets: moments of movement interspersed with opportunities to stop, browse, meet, and linger. The result is a landscape that encourages both circulation and social interaction, shaping the market as a porous and adaptable public realm embedded within the daily life of the city.
Tree canopies expand, deepening the shade and strengthening the spatial definition of each outdoor room. What initially appears as a newly built environment slowly transitions into a place that feels settled and inhabited, where daily routines begin to shape the atmosphere of the market.
