New York High Falls Riverfront Market
Dezeen Competitions: Buildner's New York High Falls Riverfront Market competition challenges designers to rethink a new civic destination within High Falls State Park in Rochester, New York.
Proposals should present a contemporary riverfront market at the Smokestack Portal site — one of the future entry points into High Falls State Park.
Organiser: Buildner
Competition: New York High Falls Riverfront Market
Judges: yet to be announced
Registration deadline: 10 December 2026
Winner announcement: 9 March 2027
Prizes: the first prize is €5,000, the second is €2,500 and the third is €1,000, with an additional €1,000 prize for the Buildner Student Award and €500 for the Buildner Sustainability Award
Competition overview
The New York High Falls Riverfront Market competition invites architects, designers, and creative thinkers to imagine a new civic destination within the future High Falls State Park in Rochester, New York.
Presented by Buildner in partnership with AIA Rochester as part of its annual Designers Unleashed initiative, together with Community Design Rochester and Future Reality Services, the competition explores how architecture can contribute to the transformation of one of Rochester's most historically significant riverfront landscapes.
Located at the Smokestack Portal site along the edge of the Genesee River gorge, participants are asked to design a contemporary riverfront market together with the surrounding public space necessary to support it.
The proposal should function as both an active civic destination and a gateway into the future park system while responding to the site's dramatic topography, industrial identity, and relationship to the riverfront landscape.
The competition encourages innovative and environmentally responsive proposals that balance architecture, landscape, and public life within a flexible civic setting.
Winning proposals will share a total prize fund of €10,000, with the final registration deadline on 10 December 2026 and winners scheduled to be announced on 9 March 2027.
Participants are asked to design a contemporary riverfront market together with the surrounding public space at the Smokestack Portal site — one of the future entry points into High Falls State Park.
The proposal should function as both an active public destination and a gateway into the future park system while responding carefully to the site's dramatic topography, industrial identity, and relationship to the Genesee River gorge.
Eligibility and judging criteria
The competition is open to all.
How to enter
Entry requirements can be found on Buildner's website.
Submission deadlines
Registrations are open until 10 December 2026.
The closing date for submissions is 18 January 2027. The winner will be announced on 9 March 2027.
About Buildner
Buildner specialises in creating and managing architecture contests, offering a platform for architects to showcase innovation and engage with a global community.
Its mission is to inspire creativity and professional growth in the architectural industry.
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