Jul 20, 2021
Concept by Zeynab Matar, Andrea Baraggia, and Mohamd Wageh
Editor’s note: The following information is derived from an interview Agritecture conducted with Zeynab Matar and Andrea Baraggia as part of Agritecture Studios. This first virtual cohort supported architects with a deep interest in urban agriculture who lacked the technical background necessary to move forward with their concepts confidently. Learn more about Agritecture Studios’ first cohort here!
How many abandoned spaces, full of potential, sit empty in cities around the world?
And, what do we do with these countless forgotten sites? Do we leave them unused or repurpose them for a brighter future?
This is the challenge architects Zeynab Matar, Andrea Baraggia, and Mohamd Wageh took on when they decided to participate in Agritecture Studios to design solutions for the food access and quandaries globally.
An image of the abandoned slaughterhouse in Milan
The Abandoned Slaughterhouse
Working out of Milan, Italy, this team decided to take on the challenge of redesigning the Ex Macello site, a neglected area that includes a former communal slaughterhouse and a poultry and rabbit market in the real estate compendium of the Milan wholesale market. The southern part of this site also features a wholesale fruit and vegetable market undergoing a large redevelopment, alongside clusters of abandoned buildings dating back to the 1900s.
With a deep interest in sustainability and circular design, Matar explains that “there is a strong emphasis on the role of agribusinesses here due to the association of this site with food markets. As a result, this urban intervention aims to repopulate the urban void through innovative food production, creating a new shopping experience.”
In aiming to design this change, this team of architects is revitalizing retail activities and creating a new experience for locals, potentially bringing this bustling marketplace back to life.
Combining Retail With Food Production
A rendering of the bird’s eye view of the project design
With a mixture of community gardens, a vertical farm, and a greenhouse on-site, this upgraded space will be able to process and sell food right where it’s produced.
From the two urban farms, one will grow niche products like saffron for local restaurants in Milan, while the other will use a standardized modular system to combine aquaponics, aeroponics, and a clay pebbles substrate to grow kale, basil, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, and arugula on an industrial scale.
Additionally, the rooftop will allow visitors to harvest raspberries, strawberries, mini watermelons, basil, and other crops for a fee. This space will create additional revenue whilst allowing visitors to learn about innovative food production methods.
Matar shares that “the retail experience intertwined with this food production is envisioned for individuals pursuing healthy lifestyles. A part of the retail activity aims to sell local produce to supply locals with their daily needs for vitamins and minerals, whilst another experience is planned in the crop tasting rooms that act as a tourist attraction.”
Rendering of the interiors of the site design
Additionally, an on-site R&D and training facility will act as a multipurpose building that encourages more food-based startups, creates a space for hosting events, and offers the potential for workspaces.
All of these elements are connected through the spine of the structure, bringing together what Matar calls the “past and future of the project area. This attractive cluster built around food will be a new space for visitors, businesses, researchers, and for the future residents of the area.”
Designing A Sustainable Model For This Marketplace
Baraggia adds that “the goal of this project is to implement circularity by reducing and reusing waste to minimize raw energy consumption, and through supplying the remaining energy needs from sustainable and local energy sources (photovoltaics and biogas).”
Plans for a circular model
To meet this goal of creating a circular food hub, heat for the greenhouse will be generated through organic waste via feeding an anaerobic bio-digester, producing CH4 for the crops.
Rainwater will be collected through the rooftops, providing around 6600m3 of water annually. And, the sludge resulting from the water processing will be used to produce biochar through a pyrolysis process sequestering CO2. The resulting product can be used as fertilizer if mixed in soil or as a nutrient for the aeroponic and aquaponic system.
Overall, the team argues that “the innovative growing methods maximize space efficiency by 436% and reduce water consumption by 90% compared to standard agricultural practices.”
Looking At The Numbers Behind The Model
The team’s various models in Agritecture Designer comparing the expected costs and performance of the two proposed CEA facilities
This proposed plan for the redesign of Ex Macello sounds exciting and looks beautiful, but the team realized that they needed data to back up this idea and prove its financial viability. With Agritecture Designer, they were able to do exactly this.
Designer was able to determine that artificial lighting costs would account for 54.17% and 30.67%, respectively, of the vertical farm. Therefore, to minimize the electricity consumption and costs, Baraggia shares that the team decided that the farm should be “designed with a glass roof maximizing the natural light intake. Additionally, the 4318 m2 of photovoltaic panels installed on the gallery and on the facades of the greenhouses will produce 41.6 kWp to power the LED lights of the modules when the natural light is not sufficient.”
An Agritecture advisor was able to help the team realize that the unique greenhouse design required the use of a scissor lift to harvest the crops, resulting in high labor costs accounting for 37% of the farm’s annual operating expenses (OpEx). The team believes that this high labor cost will be partially compensated by the discounted real estate cost of the area, being provided by the municipality of Milan for $215,000/year.
Matar and Baraggia also used Designer to determine a fair market price for the produce - in line with the organic items sold in the supermarkets of Milan.