Two Swedish architects, Sine Lindholm and Mads-Ulrik Husum, have designed a multi-tiered indoor garden pavilion called ‘Growroom’ while working for Space10 – Ikea’s product development lab that explores sustainable urban living concepts. Capable of growing enough food for an entire neighborhood in one harvest, Space10’s Growroom is part of an ever-increasing list of successful eco-friendly launches from the home décor giant. The main objective: to provide a local food source for cities with minimal outdoor space.
“We could produce food of the highest quality that tastes better, is much more nutritional, fresh, organic and healthy.”
Ikea’s Space10 Lab
From the Flatpack refugee shelter to its biodegradable mushroom-based packaging, Space10’s green design innovation is having a widespread impact throughout the world. Backed by a Creative Common Attribution 4.0 International License, Ikea’s Growroom is an open-source plan available to download for anyone interested in building an “urban farm pavilion.” Ikea is renown for aligning its product development alongside its mission to help build a sustainable future.
The Open Source Growroom Plan
“It doesn’t make sense to promote local food production and then start shipping it across oceans and continents,” according to Space10’s open source plan. So instead of seeking profits, Ikea decided to make an investment in sustainable living. This empowers people living in crowded cities to maximize their living space and at the same time, “spur local communities to grow and source food to share.” Imagine being able to walk into your sunroom and being able to make dinner out of fresh garden vegetables – without heading to the market.
“The challenge is that traditional farming takes up a lot of space and space is a scarce resource in our urban environments.”
Food Architecture
“It is designed to support our everyday sense of well-being in the cities by creating a small oasis or ‘pause’ architecture in our high paced societal scenery and enables people to connect with nature as we smell and taste the abundance of herbs and plants,” Space10 explains in its open source plan. With only 17 steps to construct the spherical tower made out of plywood, users can assemble the 9 by 8.2-foot free-standing Growroom with two rubber hammers, a screwdriver, and “a visit to your local fab lab or maker space with a CNC milling machine.” Does the setup process sound overwhelming – especially the “finding a local fab lab” part?
According to an article in The Farm, users that are concerned about finding a CNC milling machine should rest easy: “A new generation of technologies such as 3D additive and subtractive manufacturing to laser cutting and surface-mount manufacture is available to the public in fab labs and maker spaces in any major city.” If you take a look at the “review comments” from the article written in The Farm, you’ll see a slew of fab labs offering their services.
Sustainable Solutions for Urban Living
Growroom reduces food miles, diminishes our carbon footprint, protects our food from pesticides, and teaches children about indoor gardening. Designed to minimize space especially in smaller living quarters, Space10 created an indoor garden that is fully customizable. The interlocking plywood pieces and Creative Common license make Growroom’s downloadable assembly instructions rather easy to follow. Once assembled, you have a green space that is architecturally impressive.
Ikea, once again, is proving to be one of the leading innovators when it comes to consumer eco-technology. Space10’s new Growroom is poised to disrupt an industry way too reliant on supermarkets for their fruits and vegetables.
Source: IFLScience
FRANK B G - March 7, 2018 @ 10:52
we have played with this idea in vertical gardens & round balls the difference being vertical space is easily found as all structures have ‘walls’ My first attempt was in Chicago’s parking garages taking ‘waste’ water to upper levels & basically pouring the waste water down over planters stacked on each floor catching water from one above to one below & so on down till bottom is filled with fish (carp or catfish). The great city for some reason opted not to use this great formate to filter air & waste water. Then we played with idea of grouped bezel (pie slice shape each unit) in a round spiral upward. Each one or floor placed farther outward then lower level. With organic semi protected gardens & waste water tricking downward to a large basin on bottom floor with fish. The circulation of water from bottom to upper levels is driven through a windmill pumping station . Fresh cleaner water stored on top (roof) with certain fresh water aquatics. Drinking water is pressurized by gravity & flows through a RO system.
The key to proper survival of humans depend on fresh water supply being available. Food as in form of most vegetables & fruit we have found require less water to grow . Plants can in humid areas absorb water out of atmosphere. It’s man & livestock which requires extensive amount of water. Why we feel a system handling water should be the 1st thought & growing food should be 2nd . Yet most of these, grow vegetables systems say they are sustainable , which they can’t be. Only water recycling systems can be called sustainable. I love the though & only wish 100 years ago we would have down & created these systems, then by now so much of our hard waste would have been reduced to almost nothing.