8th & Plate: Associate Food Hall
ROLE: ARCHITECT
CLIENT: WALMART
SIZE: 100,000 SF
COMPLETION DATE: 2024
Located at the heart of Walmart’s 350-acre corporate campus in Bentonville, Arkansas, 8th & Plate anchors a comprehensive, made-from-scratch food program that includes coffee shops, food trucks, markets, and catering across the site. The building consolidates this expansive program into a central hub for gathering, nourishment, and respite—serving as a daily touchpoint for the campus population.
Spanning over 100,000 square feet, the Associate Food Hall is supported by a 33,000-square-foot subterranean commissary kitchen and a 12,000-square-foot loading dock, both discreetly tucked beneath the building and its adjacent parking structure. This strategic move preserves the ground plane for public use while keeping service functions entirely out of view.
Guided by disciplined decisions in form, scale, and material, the architectural language is rooted in a sense of humility and clarity. Referencing the brick warehouses of the Midwest, the building is conceptually ideated as a “lunch box”—a robust vessel that brings together diverse food options into a cohesive whole. Utilizing a restrained material palette of red brick, wood, and metal panel, the building is grounded within its campus context, lending it a sense of permanence and longevity.
Within this composed setting, the individual food venues act as focal points—introducing vibrant color, varied texture, and distinct identity that enrich the overall composition. Expansive skylights along primary movement paths softly bathe the interior with daylight, animating spaces throughout the day and enhancing the building’s openness and tranquility. Cross-laminated timber roofs shelter varying outdoor porches that evoke Northwest Arkansas’s multi-seasonal porch tradition—inviting year-round use and strengthening regional identity.
The result is an environment that balances the complexity of a large-scale food service program with noble materials, generous spaces, and regional relevance. It offers a welcoming, enduring space for connection and nourishment—tailored to the rhythms of a dynamic corporate campus.
