Singapore Hotel’s Aquaponic Rooftop Farm To Produce Vegetables And Fish
Aquaponics involves growing plants without soil, a process that saves resources including water, land, and manpower
By August, the rooftop farm will supply 30 percent of the vegetable and fish requirements for two neighboring hotels
27 December 2019
This is not a new hotel, why are we featuring it now? True, a hotel has stood here since 1986, when it opened as the Westin Plaza, but now it has an aquaponics farm. Repeat, an aquaponics farm!
What on earth is an aquaponics farm, and why is it exciting news? Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture and hydroponics; in simple terms, growing plants without soil. It employs a closed, circular system that channels the waste from living fish to fertilize plants, which in turn filter and clean the water for the fish. This process saves resources and reduces the need for water, land, and manpower.
A first for hotels in the city-state, the Fairmont Singapore’s aquaponics farm was launched in late October. The fact the farm is in Singapore – a concrete jungle that imports more than 90 percent of its food – while there’s a growing realization our fragile environment must be protected is inspirational for densely built cities.
Is it one of those “show and tell” herb gardens that resorts create as a talking point but supply only a tiny proportion of the property’s needs? Granted, at just 450 square metres, wedged between the rooftops of the Fairmont Singapore and sister property Swissôtel The Stamford, the “farm” is not large. But through clever configuration, once it’s fully operational in August 2020, it will yield an estimated 2,200kg of vegetables and 350kg of fish monthly for both hotels, or about 30 percent of their needs.
The hotel’s Aquaponics Salad.
More than 40 varieties of vegetables and herbs, including spinach, kang kong, lettuce, and mint, are being grown in compact beds and towers, and about 16,000 tilapia fish are being raised in huge containers at the back of the farm. The first fish will be ready for the dining table in March.
The plan is to plant and harvest in batches so a constant supply is available. To trick the plants into giving healthy yields in unfavourable conditions, they are sheltered from sunlight, kept at 24 to 25 degrees Celsius and exposed to LED lighting.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. How does the produce taste? My salad at modern grill Skai contained oak leaf, red chard, mizuna, rocket leaves, baby kale and Japanese Pentas flowers, all fresh from the farm, the leaves still luscious and crisp – proof that the less distance your food travels, the better it tastes.
Currently, the farm supplies five of the hotels’ 13 food outlets. The jewel in the crown, Michelin-starred JAAN by British chef Kirk Westaway, will soon incorporate some of the farm’s output in its menu of reinvented British classics.
What is Fairmont doing about food waste? Through the Treatsure app, leftovers from buffets are sold to the public at S$10 (US$7) per box – biodegradable, of course – just before closing. Treatsure users are updated on which member hotels have leftovers up for grabs and can take as much food as they can pack into the provided box. This has reduced Fairmont’s buffet wastage by 40 to 60 percent.
Whatever cannot be sold is fed into the Eco-Wizz digester, together with leftovers from other outlets, to be turned into water and compost. Local charity Food from the Heart collects leftover bread baskets from the breakfast service for distribution to impoverished families.
A Deluxe Harbour View Room.
What else is the hotel doing to make travel less destructive to the environment? Although you’ll still find single-use plastics in your room – laundry bags and slipper wrappers, for instance – the move towards eliminating their use is ongoing, the hotel assures us. Each revamped room and suite in Fairmont’s new South Tower has a nifty Swisspro tap, which dispenses filtered hot and cold water, so no more plastic bottles.
My conscience feels lighter, now what about location? The building was designed more than 30 years ago by the late I.M. Pei, of Hong Kong’s Bank of China Tower fame. The hotel has taken on various guises under different owners, but remains in demand for its location, in the city’s cultural and historical heart. It is within walking distance of the Singapore Art Museum and the National Gallery Singapore.
And the view! Centrally located beds give guests panoramas of the city’s spectacular skyline, an effect heightened by the building’s circular design.
What’s the bottom line? Rates start at S$399 (excluding service charge and tax). A two-course set lunch at Italian restaurant Prego costs about S$30, excluding taxes and service charge. The cost savings from the aquaponics products have yet to be factored into menu prices.