LOFT 2011 - London Farm Tower

London, 2011

The population growth and the urban centralization lead to an increase of the demand in the real estate market and in the food.

One possible solution is the vertical farming.

For these reasons, AWR proposes the design of a new skyscraper on the Thames waterfront. The new tower will be inserted into the new city skyline.

Vertical Farming: architecture and nature work together.

In the 2000 Dickson Despommier, professor of the environmental sciences at the Columbia University in New York, developed in collaboration with various architectural firms, the concept of vertical farms. The urban vertical farming means the cultivation of agriculture products and livestock in vertical, in multi-storey structures energy self-sufficient inserted within the metropolitan areas.

The benefits offered by this technology are:

• continuous, non-seasonal, supply of agricultural products
• elimination of the possibility of damage to the agricultural production caused by natural disasters such as droughts, floods.
• contribution to the reconstruction of the ecosystem balance through the reduction of cultivated land.
• reduction of the CO2 emissions by eliminating the use of pollutants machineries such as tractors and vehicles for the transport of goods for long distances.
• reduction of the water consumption
• decrease of the cost of food products
• social benefits such as creating new job opportunities and education for the community.

The goals to achieve are:

• meet the requirements of the World Green Building Council
• determine which materials are best suited for the construction of the vertical farm
• identify resistant, light, transparent and long-term materials
• experience the most innovative materials

The competition requires the design of a vertical farm with a residential use.

In The city there is still a strong demand for housing and for public functions in downtown areas where the presence of public transportation makes the site extremely strategic.

The city offers the chance to build a real vertical city, which may include a public plaza, shopping areas, restaurants and residences. Londoners welcomes the macro-structures that allow them to experience the city as well as possible. At the same time this project allows people to do many activities both indoors and outdoors because of the weather.

AWR will give you a chance to confront these issues and problems into LOFT 2011.

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