Allie white

plank road food hub

Designed around 2 water catchment roof systems, Plank Road Food Hub is meant to help alleviate storm surge in the area and uses the water catchment systems to recycle the water back into farming on site. The structure is raised from the ground using steel truss systems with a curtain wall set into the structure, allowing farming to be visually open to the public. The 2 roof systems rotate around a central vertical farming green house, allowing light access and views of the farming from each space. While the roof structures also filter water, each roof filters different circulations, with the public interacting mainly under the butterfly roof and community spaces happening primarily under and on top of the green roof.

The public corridor of the building features restaurant space and vertical aquaponic farming, with an interior vertical farming system that protrudes into the restaurant space. The roof structure is raised by steel column trusses, holding the butterfly roof at an angle to catch stormwater runoff from the zinc panels. The water then moves into the aquaponic system, getting filtered and eventually stored underground for later potable water use, as well as to be circulated back into farming on site.

A glass curtain wall sets into the structure, allowing light to access the farming within, as well as allowing the public to interact and experience the farming that is happening in the structure. The vendor stalls can be rented by businesses, and the planting behind them will be used to access fresh produce for the food preparation.

The modular green roof acts as a community garden for nearby residents to learn to grow, sell, prepare, and cook their own produce. People can rent planter boxes to be placed on site, with 4 different sized planters to grow different types of produce and vegetation. The green roof sits on top of the community corridor of the building, which hosts the grocery store for selling produce grown on the green roof, and the teaching kitchen which allows the community members to learn how to prepare and cook vegetation to bring home.