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This Vertical Farm Idea Promotes Beekeeping, Aquaponics and Algae Production. Can It Take Off in Asia?
Instead of salad vegetables, French designer Nicolas Abdelkader’s Superfarm would produce a wide range of food such as honey, fish, insects and algae. The structure will be sited on water so as not to compete for land in cities.
Instead of salad vegetables, French designer Nicolas Abdelkader’s Superfarm would produce a wide range of food such as honey, fish, insects and algae. The structure will be sited on water so as not to compete for land in cities.
In the wake of last year’s fire that tore through France’s Notre Dame Cathedral, design studio founder Nicolas Abdelkader was one of many designers and architects who came up with ideas for a new spire and roof for the Parisian landmark.
He proposed turning the top of the iconic cathedral into a greenhouse complete with beehives.
Now, Abdelkader has come up with an idea for vertical urban farms of the future. Instead of producing salad vegetables, his vertical farms would produce a wide range of food with high nutritional value such as honey, fish, insects and algae.
The Superfarm project would also strive to recreate an ecosystem in an urban environment through features such as beekeeping and an aquaponics system.
Fish such as tilapia would be reared in a recirculating aquaculture system where water is largely reused after treatment. The waste produced by fish would be used as nutrients for plants.
Algae such as spirulina and chlorella would be produced in bioreactors, and plants such as goji berries, aloe vera and ginseng would be grown. The farm would be powered by wind and solar energy.
Consumers would be able to buy produce directly from the farm and deliveries to households, restaurants and other customers can be done on tricycles, Abdelkader said in his pitch.
The French national is still refining the idea to make it more economical, consume less energy and use less raw materials in its construction. The six-storey structure, 12 metres in both length and width, will be sited on water in order not to compete for land in cities. It is likely to be anchored in the seabed but a floating farm might be possible, he said.
Asked where the Superfarm might be sited, Paris-based Abdelkader said it would ideally be set up in a “sufficiently populated coastal city” in places such as Scandinavia, the United States or Asia.
The varieties of plants and animals cultivated on the farm would also be adapted to the places in which it is set up.
“Superfarm could be a real game-changer for coastal cities, I am sure,” said Abdelkader, who is self-taught. He worked first as a designer and then a project manager for various architectural agencies, gaining experience in complex engineering projects before founding Superfarm a few months ago.
Urban farms have emerged as one of the solutions to boost food security, promote the farm-to-table movement and make better use of available pockets of land, such as rooftops, in cities. Urban farming and the shoring up of local food supply have also gained prominence as global supply chains are disrupted by coronavirus-induced lockdowns and border closures.
Abdelkader declined to provide a cost estimate for the Superfarm project. “For the time being we have been approached by potential investors, especially in the Gulf countries but I cannot say more at this stage,” he said.
Asked about the feasibility of the project in Southeast Asia, fish farmer Shannon Lim said the concept may not produce enough food economically on a commercial scale.
Going by Superfarm’s illustrations, he reckoned it would be able to produce a maximum of a few tonnes of food a year.
The idea “definitely works as far as fish production goes”, said Lim, the owner of Singapore firm OnHand Agrarian, which operates and provides consultancy on land and sea-based farms. “But it would have to be cheap freshwater fish that Asia already produces in abundance. Whether or not it’ll have enough plant mass to capture all the nitrogen compounds the fish produce is questionable.”
Lim felt the Superfarm concept would work better as part of an integrated office building that produces food for employees at an in-house café.
“It looks like a great live-work-play space that can customise production of different types of food. It would be a shame to not have it as part of a business ecosystem,” he said.
By Neo Chai Chin | Eco-Business | May 8, 2020
Watch: This Futuristic Vertical Farm Would Farm Fish, Bugs And Plants in The Middle of The City
March 25, 2019
Futuristic vertical farm would grow food in the middle of the city
French design company Studio NAB has come up with the idea of creating a large vertical farm called the Superfarm to promote sustainable living.
Designers at Studio NAB have come up with the idea of creating a large vertical farm called the Superfarm to promote sustainable living.
The designer’s nifty solution is to focus on the production of super foods, or foods with a high nutritional value.
The six-storey building would incorporate renewable energy to farm fish, insects, and plants including aloes and seaweed.
French design company Studio NAB has come up with the idea of creating a large vertical farm called the Superfarm to promote sustainable living.
It forms part of their idea to combat future food shortages as the world’s population increases to 10 billion and brings food to where, by 2050, 80% of the world's population will be living: urban spaces.
Feeding the world would require new land the size of Brazil to be farmed in order to produce enough food, if farming practices continue as they are practiced today, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations,
“Nowadays, the agri-food system and its production methods are poorly organised and unsustainable over the long term, we see its limits and misdeeds everyday,” the design company says.
The designer’s solution is to build indoor vertical farms which can produce sustainable food for the consumer in urban areas.
Far from the traditional urban farm producing salads or other fruits and vegetables, the Superfarm project, as its name suggests, focuses its production on the culture of foods with a high nutritional value.
The Superfarm would be six stories tall, with its topmost layer containing solar panels and wind turbines to produce renewable energy.
Level two would feature an open terrace with plants such as ginseng, spirulina and aloe vera cultures.
Levels three and four would be dedicated to insect breeding and algae cultures.
The fifth floor would farm aquatic creatures such as trout and tilapia and young plant cultures, while the sixth story would contain a greenhouse that would include plants such as acai berries and goji berries.
Each floor would have a specific purpose and would work in unison with other floors to create a viable ecosystem.
The project strives to recreate an ecosystem in an urban environment that incorporates seaweed, beekeeping, insect farming, aquaponics and also various greenhouse cultivations and outdoor cultures, allow each living being to serve the growth of the others.
'Superfarm' By Studio NAB Proposes A Vertical Farm Concept To Combat Land Shortage
in response to the growing global population, studio NAB, has developed the ‘superfarm‘ concept as an alternative to traditional farming methods. as the name suggests, the project creates a building that focuses on the production of foods with a high nutritional value that can be consumed in addition to a healthy diet. the ‘superfarm’ also strives to recreate an ecosystem within an urban environment. seaweed culture, beekeeping, insect farming, aquaponics and also various greenhouse cultivations and outdoor cultures are included in the scheme by the architect.
view of the project from a dock | all images courtesy of studio NAB
As a conceptual project, studio NAB‘s design has been imagined in the heart of a city on a river development in an effort to respond to scarcity of land. the 6 storey proposal is designed to occupy a small 12m by 12m surface, with a height of 34m. each level of the ‘superfarm’ is developed to increase in area as you ascend, therefore gaining the maximum floor area with minimum impact on the site. each floor will house different functions, with the top floor comprising of a greenhouse with beehives and planting spaces. on the roof, solar panels and wind turbines provide energy to power the building.
view from the access footbridge
in addition to producing a wide variety of highly nutritious foods, the ‘superfarm’ also aims to reduce travel distances of food and therefore restore the link between producers and consumers. inhabitants will also gain easier access to these products by coming directly to the farm. accessible from the footbridge, a direct sales area has been imagined as well as a storage area for dry goods and cold rooms for perishable goods.
view from the platform of the production of seaweed
studio NAB’s concept also aspires to combat unemployment and revive the local economy on a neighborhood scale. the scheme also aims to create a collective awareness of the inhabitants and local partners around a common project of innovative and healthy urban agriculture. thanks to the installation of wind turbines and solar panels, several kW/h can be produced daily to supply the heat production systems and to allow the ventilation and lighting of indoor production areas. therefore, the building will produce it’s own power to operate and be completely energy self-sufficient.
view of the production space in direct connection with the greenhouse
view of the greenhouse, on the roof, solar panels and wind turbines power the building
section through the building showing the functions of the farm and details of the food produced by floors
level 6 greenhouse
level 5 aquaphonics
level 4 algae culture
level 3 insect breeding
level 2 platform
level 1 offices
ground level
project info:
project name: ‘superfarm’
project status: concept
architect: studio NAB
designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.
edited by: lynne myers | designboom
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