Community Market Hall with Vertical Farming Sections, Isometric Concept in Watercolour and 0.5mm Fineliner
Urban market and vertical farm proposal, Southampton (2021)
This university project explored the concept of creating an urban farm and community market in the derelict Debenhams Department Store in Queensway, Southampton city centre.
This proposition is designed to meet local demands for an indoor market, whilst offsetting local deprivation and providing a range of in-house grown low-carbon-loaded products.
The images in this project were created predominantly using Photoshop, which is a variation on the usual style I incorporate in final concept development as a showcase for skill diversification.
Site Overview:
The original signage hung from the external walls has been replaced with standing, illuminated signage bearing the site's branding 'Biomart' - with hanging greenery rooted in pots on the roof. This helps reduce the pollution from the main road surrounding the building, as air pollution is a key issue in Southampton.
The moss-coated green facade also creates a visual pathway through the area, better connecting the building to Queens park by the harbour, as the building's name 'Queen Buildings' originally intended.
Site Overview Explosion:
South West Entrance: Open Entrance Way Adjacent to Bus Stop
Part of the South Western wall on the ground floor has been removed to create easier pedestrian access to the site and enable additional natural light into this dark space.
This design allows on-street access to the external and internal ground floor market spaces, which are separated by a glass curtain wall. Many of the original interior features have been retained to keep costs down and pay homage to the building's original purpose.
Bespoke market stalls constructed locally from reclaimed timber populate this space, but are temporary structures - the quantity changing depending on demand. The circular plates on the front are removeable and are coated in chalkboard paint for easy customisation, with in-built storage beneath.
In the Northern portion of the ground floor, a farm shop has been incorporated to sell goods grown on the upper floors - supplemented by products grown on nearby community farms. This area is defined by its use of recycled crates and timber pallets for a rustic theme with a low carbon footprint.
Lower Ground Floor Food Hall: Open-Plan Facilities Offering Hot Food at Affordable Prices. Predominant Use of Reclaimed Timber.
The Western half of the ground floor, which sits 1m below is accessible by staircase or through the newly incoporated ramp for disability access. This area offers an open food hall, lined with leasable hot food stalls and an adjacent soup kitchen, with a central mixed seating area acting as a focal point.
The seating space is surrounded by raised planters which offer a free growning space to local services such as the Southampton community kitchen - with the aim of improving lifestyles and diets of Southampton's deprivation population.
Basement Crèche: Garden-Themed with a large timber tunnel leading into a giant ball pit, educational spaces lit by skylight at the back for wayfinding purposes and to improve learning retention.
As the site aims to employ primarily single mothers from deprivation areas nearby, a crèche has been incorporated into the basement to create on-site child care service to the employees for the first three years.
After this initial transition period has ended, it can be opened to the public as an additional service.
First Floor Community Market: Urban Farm and Hoglands Park Backdrops to this 'Semi-Public' Space
The first floor of the site is divided between vertical farming spaces and a community market which offers views of Hoglands Park. These spaces are separated by glass curtain walls coated in UV resistant film, to protect market users from the harsher lighting levels that are used cyclically in the indoor farming process.
First Floor Vertical Farm: Berry-Based Fruits Grown in A-Frame Hydroponic Containers for Optimised Food Production - Digitally Conctrolled.
The first floor vertical farm is used for growing tomatoes, radishes and strawberries - as these are the most aesthetically pleasing crops acting as a dramatic backdrop to the market. This allows a visual connection to the usres of where their food is coming from.
The farm space is defined by the worker's 'Cool Down Pink' (Späth , 2011) uniforms and incorporated into the ceiling - this is to encourage a calm working atmosphere whilst demonstrating that it is for employees only.
Second Floor Vertical Farm: Reserved for Lettuces, Microgreens And High-Value Crops - Planting, Watering And Harvest Schedule Is Digitally Controlled For Ease Of Use And Optimisation
The second floor is solely used by employees and is dividied into sealed vertical farming areas, office spaces and storage units. The public have access to the hallway enclosed with glass walls as a quiet 'safe space' for users (such as those with autism) who may need a moment away from the potentially overwhelming noises and smells of the other levels.
Side notes: All farming spaces on site are themal and humidity controlled environments with automated lighting to optimise crop productivity. All staff uniforms are in Cool Down Pink', but are available in a range of styles to allow some degree of personalisation or ownership, without indicative prejudices accociated with non-uniform workwear.
Site Overview Section:
North Facing Section - Horizontal West to East - 55m into site from Southern Elevation
This concept was demonstrated in a section model using clear acrylic sheets to allow viasbility between floors in the design, and 3D printed models to provide physical context to the proposed contents.
Final Model - 1:50 - Perspex, Resin, Flocking, Pine - 260hrs
