The construction of the current Matosinhos market followed the lack of conditions and capacity of the previous equipment. Built in 1884, and despite a major remodeling in 1928, the market continued to show deficit conditions. Thus, the building was demolished. The opening of the ideas competition for the market advanced in 1936.

Luís José Oliveira, a civil construction scholar in the 1940s, competed for the construction of the Municipal Market of Matosinhos, a bold building designed by the office of architects ARS- Arquitetos Reunidos, with offices in Praça da Liberdade, in Porto, of which they were part Architects Cunha Leão, Morais Soares and Fortunato Cabral.

Luís José Oliveira did not win the construction competition, coming in second place. However, at the time of signing the contract, the winner gave up, so he was called by the Municipal Council of Matosinhos to build the Municipal Market. In 1944, construction began.

When building the arches of the vaults, Luís José Oliveira created a wooden structure, which slid on rails, which served as a mold (formwork), to be coated with irons and cement, arch to arch, before some astonishment of the technicians.

The work was visited by national and, above all, Spanish architects and engineers, as the technique and structure was, for years, a unique case in the Iberian Peninsula with regard to working with reinforced cement. Good accessibility, luminosity and modern architectural lines have been, for decades, a reason for recognition.

The official inauguration took place on May 27, 1952, and was attended by the President of the Republic, Craveiro Lopes. Its opening to the public took place a few months after the inauguration, more precisely on August 1 of that same year.