Vertical Farm Beijing
architecturefood
van Bergen Kolpa - Vertical Farm Beijing

Vertical farm Beijing is China's first innovation center for urban food production. With its faceted glass facades, monumental entrance hall and stacking of functions, Vertical Farm Beijing gives a striking, architectural appearance to horticulture within the city. With its reuse of water, passive heat gain and natural cooling, the building shows how food can be produced sustainably in the urban environment.

The Vertical Farm was built on the campus of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science; Beijing's and the rest of China's innovation center for fruit and vegetable growing. The transparent three-story building is the prominent entrance to the campus' research facilities and overlooks the city and the ring road in downtown Beijing.

“Vertical Farm Beijing gives a striking, architectural appearance to horticulture within the city.”

Building for innovation and education

The 3,500 m2 building spread over three floors houses an array of innovative vertical cultivations around a monumental entrance hall. An educational routing through the building leads visitors past fruit and berry trees in the open ground, automated vertical lettuce growing, fruit growing under LED light and a rooftop greenhouse with tomato and cucumber growing under daylight.

van Bergen Kolpa - Vertical Farm Beijing
van Bergen Kolpa - Vertical Farm Beijing
van Bergen Kolpa - Vertical Farm Beijing

Vertical Horticulture

To supply millions of inhabitants of China's large metropolises with green and healthy food, its production must be integrated as much as possible in and around the city. Vertical Farm Beijing offers a solution in the form of stacked horticulture on a compact footprint. A new type of building for professional cultivation with accessibility to a wide audience that celebrates the central role of food in the city.

Sustainable use of water and energy

Not a drop of water is waisted in this building. When irrigating the plants, the residual water is recycled and reused. The building's climate control uses natural ventilation and cooling based on evaporation. Passive heat extraction from the sun and residual heat from LED lighting is used for heating.

van Bergen Kolpa - Vertical Farm Beijing
van Bergen Kolpa - Vertical Farm Beijing

Transparent sculpture

Vertical farm Beijing is a proud sculpture of steel and glass that underscores its agricultural and public function. The building consists of a particularly slender steel structure that stands out against the Beijing sky with a series of transparent bay windows. The entrance side looks special with its expressive, faceted facade in transparent glass.

 

Throughout the day, the bay windows allow refraction-free glimpses inside and out. In the evening, the building, with its various LED light types, shows itself as a beacon in the city.

van Bergen Kolpa - Vertical Farm Beijing
van Bergen Kolpa - Vertical Farm Beijing

van Bergen Kolpa - Vertical Farm Beijing
van Bergen Kolpa - Vertical Farm Beijing

Practical Information

Client: Confidential
Location: Innovation Park Beijing, China
Surface area: 3500 m²
Architecture: van Bergen Kolpa Architects
Construction and greenhouse design: Ammerlaan constructions, Hebucon
Planning: design 2019-20, execution 2021-2023
Photograpy: Weiqi Jin, Beijing