SPARK Asian Retirement Living/City Farms
Unveiled at the 2015 World Architecture Festival, this scheme by Spark is a concept for the 'next generation of retirement living', which centres around a community of homes and health facilities within an urban farm. The design aims to respond to a number of issues affecting cities in South East Asia; the rising elderly population and the percentage of food imported as opposed to being home grown. This new model for retirement living tackles both of these by using retirement communities into self-sufficient farm businesses, producing and selling fruit and vegetables grown on the site in order to fund amenities such as healthcare for the residents, offset rent or utility bills. In order to help build the feel of the community, residents would be offered an optional part-time job on the farm, enabling them to have a small income and socialise easier with other residents.
The homes would be located in staggered curvilinear blocks, around the farm areas, allowing residents to observe activites on the site. A variety of house types were designed into the scheme, taking into account the different housing needs of the residents, ranging from studio flats and 4 bedroom homes. This responds to the tradtion in countries such as Singapore where elderly relatives live with their children and families and encourages the continuation of this intergenerational living.
The farm elements proposed for the site include, aquaponic farming, rooftop planting as well as traditional soil based planting. Sustainability has been key in the concept. Waste taken from the farm is compressed into pellets, which is then burnt in a biomass plant, producing steam that is fed into a steam turbine, electricty generated by the turbine is returned to the farm. Ash produced and collction in the biomass boiler is used as a fertiliser in the areas of traditional farming.
This is an interesting concept, which looks at some of the issues I am exploring in my project. The way in which the farm both houses and provides jobs for its residents is thought provoking, as is the way in which the farm has a cycle of sustainability, from growth and production to power. Obviously this is a large scale operation that cannot be wholly applied to Sway, however, some of the ways in which this project addresses issues of living for the elderly may be able to be applied.
References:
Dezeen (2015) Spark's model for Asian retirement community [online] Available from: http://www.dezeen.com/2015/11/17/home-farm-spark-model-asian-retirement-housing-communities-city-farms/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily+Dezeen+Digest&utm_content=Daily+Dezeen+Digest+CID_f96f4ff99297b20e41dea2ee69222e8c&utm_source=Dezeen+Mail [Accessed 18th November 2015]