Building & Investment (Nov - Dec 2015) (Nov - Dec 2015) | Page 80

Design Feature

Homefarm provides a
garden environment for senior citizens
Architect SPARK proposes next generation of retirement housing concept
for senior citizens in Singapore.
A BOLD CONCEPT was proposed by
architect firm SPARK during the “Retirement
Living World China” conference in Shanghai,
– to combine apartments and facilities for
senior citizens with vertical urban farming.
SPARK’s aim is to generate discussion about
the many potentials that can emerge from
the mixing of two typically separate realms.
The question of how to support and
accommodate a rapidly ageing population
confronts many nations in Asia. In Singapore,
for example, a substantial demographic
shift is underway. By 2030, one in five
Singapore residents will be aged 65 years
and over (up from 6 per cent in 1990). The
swelling proportion of seniors will place
significant demands on social, economic and
infrastructural systems.
Achieving a secure food supply for
growing city populations is an equally
pressing challenge for rapidly urbanising
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Asian nations. This challenge is keenly felt
in Singapore, a small and fully urbanised
city state without a hinterland. Currently,
Singapore imports over 90 per cent of
its food, and has in place strategies for
the diversification of food sources and
the boosting of local production through
intensive agricultural technology.
The Homefarm concept allows residents
to live in a garden environment created by
a vegetable farm, where they may also find
employment. The concept introduces vertical
aquaponic farming and rooftop soil planting
to the realm of high-density and flexible
housing that has been designed to cater to the
needs and preferences of seniors. Residents
may combat the financial stress that is often
faced post-retirement by working part-time at
the farm under the direction of a professional
vertical farming implementation team.
Facilities catered to the needs of an older

population are provided in the lower levels
of the development (and are also open to the
public), while the housing is stacked above in
a curvilinear terraced formation reminiscent
of land contours.
“We designed this concept for Singapore,”
says SPARK Director Stephen Pimbley, “but
there is the potential for it to be applied in
any location that would support the growth
of leafy green vegetables on building facades
and rooftops.” „
More information at www.sparkarchitects.com