Kinshasa's New Zando Central Market Has Room for 20,000 Vendors

The Zando Central Market in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has space for 20,000 vendors. Dezeen, the design and architecture website, published its report on the building on 13 November 2026.

The market replaces a historic market on the same site, which was demolished. French studio Think Tank Architecture designed the new building in its place.

The scale is large. The building measures 245 metres long and 150 metres wide, and its total area is 82,000 square metres. It sits on a 3.7-hectare plot, and a hectare is 10,000 square metres. Inside are 650 shops.

The market is more than stalls. It also holds storage space, a fire station, a police station, a medical centre, a veterinary clinic, offices and a food court. Each of these sits alongside the trading floors, so that services are close to the people who use them.

The main structure is brick and concrete. It uses what designers call a mushroom-slab system, in which the flat floor slabs rest on columns that flare out at the top, like the cap of a mushroom. The columns spread the weight across a wider surface, which allows fewer supports to stand in the way of the stalls below.

The outer walls are perforated brick. Small openings are built into the brick, so air can move through and the walls cast shade. According to Dezeen, the design was made to help the building ventilate naturally.

For the people who will sell and buy there, the practical details matter as much as the shape. Storage, first aid, police and fire cover, and somewhere to eat are all on site. The building's design is meant to keep air moving through a crowded space.