A Scaleable Schematic Design Report October 2011 This report was written and designed by Charlie Baker, John Sampson, Nick Dodd and Clara Maurel from URBED on behalf of Manchester International Festival with support from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation The authors wish to acknowledge the technical input into the project of Michael Shaw and Galen Fullford for Biomatrix Water, Nigel Paul and Ian Dodd at the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Andy Woods for the BP Institute and Helen Gribbon and Mai Ren for Buro Happold. The Centre for Sustainable Agriculture 2 CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 CHALLENGE 6 CONCEPT 7 THE STORY SO FAR 8 TECHNICAL CHALLENGE 12 // LIGHTING 13 // AIR QUALITY 16 // GROWING SYSTEMS 18 // NUTRIENT FLOWS 32 // WATER 39 // HEATING 42 SCHEMATIC DESIGN 44 PARTS LIST 50 PHASING 52 CONCLUSION 57 APPENDICES 58 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CHALLENGE Manchester International Festival (MIF) has The vertical farm will not be sustainable if it uses more Nutrients and water commissioned a special project for 2011’s energy than conventional agriculture. The balance between - What symbiotic relationships can we develop within the programme: a vertical farm. Committed to what we put in and what we get out has to make sense farm? sustainably issues, MIF aims to explore the ways environmentally. - How can we recycle naturally obtained nutrients within in which we can grow food to feed our ever- the farm? expanding cities – and produce that food in an Our aim is to explore how we far we can minimise the - How much nutrient will we need and where will we urban environment. energy required for the growing systems to work. We source this from? believe we can achieve this through careful attention to - What will the water demand be and can we meet this by The aim of this study is explore in greater detail a lighting and heating and by selecting crops according to capturing water within the building footprint? series of technical challenges identified in an initial the available conditions. In seeking to do this we have been feasibility study commissioned by Mif entitled exploring the following issues: Growing Systems Another day at the office, authored by Creative - What should we be growing and when? Concern, URBED, Capital Relations and Debbie Energy - Which growing systems should we be using? Ellen, detailing the kind of challenges we are likely - How much natural light can we capture in the building? - Which growing systems should we locate where? to encounter when transforming a derelict office - How much light do we need to grow healthy and building in Wythernhawe. nutritious plants? - How can we minimise the energy demands of artificial In order to test whether Alpha farm could be lighting? designed in such a way as to reduce the resource - What temperature range do we need to maintain within demands of the farm we have developed through the building? this study, a scaleable schematic design for the - What changes do we need to make to the building to entire building. achieve this? 4 ABOUT THE TEAM A ReSOURCe ‘SenSIble’ MODel To set about exploring these questions a team of experts BP Institute, Having completed this study we believe that by taking a and designers were appointed. The team included: The BP Institute based at Cambridge University engages comprehensive approach to the integration of nutrient, in ‘open research’ under the theme of multiphase flow and water and energy flows within the building ALPHA FARM URBED surface chemistry. The institute provided support on how has the potential to be developed as a resource ‘sensible’ URBED are Manchester based co-operative specialising we move air and moisture around the building. model. By this we mean that the farm has the potential to in design, sustainability and community engagement. As grow food using less energy than conventional farming lead designers on the team URBED were responsible for Buro Happold based on the input of large numbers of pesticides and co-ordinating the team of experts that have been brought Buro Happold is an award winning international engineering fertilisers and the transport of food over large distances. together. company provided structural and environmental modeling Further investigation and testing is still required to test input to the project. these ideas further. Biomatrix Are international experts in Ecological Design and Thanks NEXT STEPS Engineering Solutions for Bioremediation and Wastewater Thanks also to Coral Grainger and Debbie Ellen for their Alpha farm provides the opportunity to began to test some Treatment. Biomatrix provided expertise around nutrient research and input that helped get the project up and of the ideas put forward in this study. Through working and water flows around the building. growing. closely with the local community in Wythernshawe the aspiration is to develop Alpha farm as a community farm, The Centre for Sustainable Agriculture which builds a knowledge and skills base around vertical The Centre for Sustainable Agriculture based at Lancaster growing here in Wythernshawe. University brought international expertise on plant science with a practical focus on sustainable agriculture to the team. 5 CHALLENGE Every day, the planet has 219,000 more people to WHAT DO WE NEED? WHAT ARE THE ISSUES? feed. By the year 2050, it is estimated that nearly 80% of the world’s population will live in urban centres. Bringing farming to the city could be a Population Cropland need (global ha/cap) - Feeding a world population of 6.8 billion people requires a land viable and innovative solution. UK Over 60 million 70 million area the size of South America. By 2050 this population will have England Over 50 million 60 million increased to 9.5 billion people. Greater Manchester 2.5 million 2.85 million - World food prices have risen dramatically as pressure on land, With Alpha Farm we plan to explore how to retro- Manchester 500,000 570,000 fit redundant, empty city buildings to grow food water and fossil fuel reserves has increased. – using pioneering new technologies such as - Worldwide, 10 of the hottest years on record have occurred since aquaponics, hydroponics and aeroponics to turn 1990 and this has affected global food production. a disused, eight storey office block in Wythen- - Safe and equitable water supply - Pesticides and fertilisers are responsible for the pollution of water shawe into a productive food hub. courses and long-term decline in soil fertility. - Food safety and security - Since 1980, worldwide oil consumption has exceeded discovered What we learn in this building could revolutionise - Engagement of society in sustainable reserves the way the world’s population could be fed. We lifestyles - Nearly 40% of the earth’s land mass is already used for will be learning as we go, seeing which farming agriculture. - Reduced dependence on fossil fuels methods work the best, what crops can be grown - A typical supermarket trolley of food is quoted to have travelled a and how to get the community involved. distance of 3,000 km. - On average we throw away one third of the food that what we buy, Launching at MIF 2011 and culminating at MIF and shops also dump food for its appearance past and sell by date. 2013, this project is deliberately experimental. Exactly where it will take us is the really exciting bit… 6 Prototype for a vertical farm CONCEPT Solar Harvesting - PV’s Solar Harvesting - Solar Hotwater Lightweight Steel Frame POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF VERTICAL FARMING IN A Extract Vents CITY: Chicken Run Hen Hangar Algae Bee Hives Duckweed Protozoa Plankton Benefits for the community: Shrimp / Fish Fry - Control of food safety and security UV - Extension of growing seasons Sterilisation - Distribution of fresh local food - Creation of local jobs Auxhillary Growth Space - Protection from weather-related crop failure Storage / Service Space O2 AEROPONICS Education Space HYDRO- O2 PONICS AQUA- Retain Existing Facade Growing Space O2 PONICS Benefits for the environment: HORTICULTURE External Growing Space PURITY - Reduction in land use Mirrors - Reuse of abandoned buildings CAFE HIGH RISK - Recycling of organics waste HIGH YIELD HIGH ALUE - Saving water Wythenshawe Market V - Reduction in use of fertilisers and pesticides Compostate - Prevention of agricultural run-off Compost Drum Composter Local Compost Collection N Key O2 O2 O2 Oxygen Circulation Heat Transfer - Water Heat Transfer - Air Typical Floor Layout 7 THE STORY SO FAR What we can learn from precedents: I. UTOPIAN CONCEPTS The Harvest Green Vertical Farm Center for Urban Agriculture Concept – Vancouver, 2009 – Romses Architects – Seattle, 2007 – by Mithun A dynamic design including a large farmer’s market supermar- An off-grid design project integrating housing and farming in ket, agricultural research and education, and residential and downtown Seattle. hospitality areas. http://webecoist.com/2010/01/13/3d-farming-26-vertical-farms- http://webecoist.com/2010/01/13/3d-farming-26-vertical-farms- and-green-skyscrapers/10-harvest-urban-vertical-farm/ and-green-skyscrapers/21-seattle-off-grid-vertical-farm/ UTOPIAN CONCEPTS 8 The Living Tower Forwarding Dallas Dragonfly Vertical Farm EVF: Experimental Vertical Farm – Paris, 2006 – SOA Architects – Dallas, 2009 – Atelier Data & MOOV – nYC Roosevelt Island, 2009 –Vincent Callebaut – Santiago, 2009 – Claudio Palavecino llanos A building combining offices and residential spaces with green- A series of valleys and hilltops designed to run ‘off the grid’ in A bionic two crystalline wings tower concept for New York Vertical farms could be designed to exploit underused urban houses on inclined floors to allow for natural irrigation. Dallas sites http://vincent.callebaut.org/page1-img-dragonfly.html http://www.ateliersoa.fr/verticalfarm_en/urban_farm.htm http://webecoist.com/2010/01/13/3d-farming-26-vertical-farms- http://www.presidentsmedals.com/Project_Details. and-green-skyscrapers/1-revision-dallas-green-city-design/ aspx?id=2432&dop=True&year=2009 9 WHAT WE HAVE I.