A team of students, researchers, architects and professionals at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) in Barcelona has designed and built a prototype greenhouse that not only produces food but also generates solar energy.

Executed by the students as part of their final thesis project for the 2021 Masters in Advanced Ecological Buildings and Biocities program, the Solar Greenhouse is located on the Natural Park of Collserola, in close proximity to IAAC’s Valldaura Labs headquarters.

Constructed from locally sourced Aleppo Pine that was CNC-milled, dried, processed and pressed into laminated wooden elements on site at Valldaura, the Solar Greenhouse features a glass roof, carefully arranged in a heliomorphic ‘diamond’ shape to allow for full solar capture both by the plants inside and the semi-transparent solar panels integrated within the glass. Glass louvres on the facade allow generous ventilation. The greenhouse is a lightweight structure that can be assembled quickly without using heavy machinery.

The plants are fed using a fully functional nutrient delivery system consisting of storage tanks, nutrient inflows and tubing while a matrix of LED strip lights facilitate longer growth cycles. The ground floor will be used to incubate the seedlings for planting in the gardens, while the upper level will generate a sizable harvest using advanced hydroponic techniques. A sawdust substrate, a former waste product of the Green Fab Lab at Valldaura, is being imaginatively reused in the planting beds.

According to the students, this full-scale prototype aids in the intensive agricultural efforts taking place at Valldaura Labs, and imagines an urban-scale intervention that could bring locally grown fresh produce to urban dwellers.

“This prototype will inform the next generation of urban food production located on the roofs and terraces of the city, combining efficient cultivation with solar generation using renewable materials,” the students said.

“From its construction through to its end use, the Solar Greenhouse project is part of the ‘zero-kilometre’ philosophy. The water, substrate and building materials are obtained from the surroundings, allowing the food grown to jump directly from production to consumption, without the need of a supply chain,” they explained.

The Solar Greenhouse represents a more ecologically focused agricultural solution for the wider urban context. Based on a self-sufficient, zero-kilometre cultivation model, the greenhouse can be implemented both in rural areas and on roofs of urban building spaces to sustainably produce food as well as energy.

Photography: Adrià Goula

Architecture News & Editorial Desk

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