Legacy Hall and Box Garden

Legacy Hall and Box Garden is a three-story, 55,000-square-foot European-style food hall, brewery and live music and entertainment venue located within the Legacy West mixed-use development in Plano, Texas. One of the nation’s largest and most unique new food halls, it is dedicated to serving the best-of food trends prepared by premier chefs and local artisans.

Gensler developed an upscale metal building aesthetic to recall rural Texas structures. The shape of the steel, pitched roof, and limestone are all quintessential Texas vernacular, and the raw exposed infrastructure show off the jobs they do in an authentic way, adding to the theatre of the space.

The food hall is comprised of over 20 artisanal food stalls— every stall began with a neutral frame of raw steel. The designer emphasized areas to exploit the theatre of prep and cooking, and created guidelines for signage, lighting, and counters. Then each vendor was given full freedom to express their own culture and DNA within that structure. The common skeleton connects each stall to the building without impairing the uniqueness of the individual brands.

The modern industrial first floor includes a wine and charcuterie bar, a rotating food stall with an ever- changing menu and a sprawling craft cocktail bar. The second floor comprises the main seating area, comfortably accommodating 250 or more guests. On the third level is a fully functioning craft brewery, with a rotating tap selection of highly creative seasonal beers. Gensler’s strategic design had to accompany the beer tanks’ atypical placement on the second and third floors. Each of the 24 tanks weighs between 20 and 50 tons when full.

All three levels have direct access to the Box Garden for live entertainment. Constructed from reclaimed shipping containers, this expansive courtyard holds more than 1,500 people and houses multiple bars and dining options.

Design: Gensler
Photography: Garret Rowland, Costa Christ Media