Solar Greenhouse

The Collserola Natural Park, on the outskirts of Barcelona, is the setting for the Solar Greenhouse project, carried out by a team of students, professionals and experts from the Master in Advanced Ecological Building and Biocities (MAEBB) of the Institute of Architecture of Catalonia ( IAAC) Valldaura Labs. It is a greenhouse designed for energy generation and self-sufficient food cultivation and represents the next step towards a more ecological agricultural transformation and progress in the fight against food and energy poverty. The goal was to design and build a system that could be replicated in both rural and urban areas. Solar Greenhouse is the result of research and search for new ways to adapt to modern life and face future food and energy crises, reinterpreting in a more ecological way the way we satisfy our most basic social needs. The result is an advanced greenhouse that uses solar energy, sustainable materials and advanced growing technology that can be implemented in the field or on urban rooftops, effectively contributing to food self-sufficiency. Water, substrate and building materials are sourced from the environment, allowing grown food to jump directly from production to consumption, without the need for a supply chain. The greenhouse structure was built with pine wood, which was extracted, collected and processed sustainably in the Valldaura area. The distribution consists of two floors. The germination area was established on the ground floor, while cultivation was arranged on the upper floor.