Cooke Douglass Farr Lemons | Architects & Engineers PA
In the Press
In the Press
Mississippi Farmers’ Market
Metal Architecture
March 2007—Located at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds, this 18,000 sq. ft. building has two air-conditioned retail spaces, market offices, public restrooms, a private staff restroom with a shower and lockers, and 32 farmer vendor spaces. Each vendor space has electricity, water, a ceiling fan and radiant heater.
Cooke Douglass Farr Lemons / Ltd. in Jackson designed the building to fit into the agricultural context of the fairgrounds and the agricultural culture across the state. A metal building from ACI Building Systems, Batesville, MS, economically provided the desired effect. The singular structure has canopies on the east and west sides with the open web trusses left open for visual effect. The ceilings above the vendor areas are 14’ high, while the center of the building is 28’ high. Exhaust plenums are covered in 4,090 sq. ft. of corrugated galvanized steel panels.
Clerestory monitors that run the length of the building make artificial lighting almost unnecessary. ACI provided 5,008 sq. ft. of concealed fastener exterior metal soffit panels with a White finish to reflect light. McElroy Metal, Bosier City, LA, manufactured 3,046 sq. ft. of 22-gauge steel Mega-Rib panels in Evergreen for use on the clerestory.
Although the majority of the walls are clad in split-face CMU, cast stone and brick, the roof is covered with ACI’s PBR roof panels. Approximately 23,360 sq. ft. of the 24-guage Galvalume steel panels were used.
The project was completed in December 2005 at a cost of $2.5 million. The general contractor was Coleman Hammons Construction of Brandon, MS. Jackson-based Steverson Construction Co. served as the erector and metal roofing and wall panel installer.