With the rooftop greenhouse Agrotopia, van Bergen Kolpa Architects (NL) and META Architectuurbureau (BE) have delivered Europe’s largest public building dedicated to urban food production, a commission from the Flemish research institute for agriculture and horticulture, Inagro, and REO Veiling.With its faceted glass frontages, monumental entrance staircase and stacked functions, Agrotopia gives a striking, architectural face to horticulture on the city’s rooftops.
hrough innovative water recuperation and by reusing urban waste heat, Agrotopia enters a circularsymbiosis with the city. Agrotopia was constructed on the roof of the REO Veiling headquarters: the logistic heart of WestFlanders for fruit and vegetables.
With a spectacular view across the expansive landscape and the city, urban horticulture atop industrial rooftops is afforded a prominent place in Roeselare’s skyline. In the 9,500 m2 building, high-tech research facilities for the cultivation of fruit and leafy vegetables are surrounded by an educational trail for the general public. In four different climate zones, the cultivation of tomatoes and lettuce, but also peppers and strawberries, can be followed. One of the challenges was to reconcile the needs for research facilities in a greenhouse, and therefore a warm and humid environment with the requirements for visitor facilities.
Loaction | Oostnieuwkerksesteenweg, Roeselare, Belgium
Surface area | 9500 m2
Architecture | van Bergen Kolpa Architects - META architecture office
Construction and installations | Tractebel
Horticulture techniques | Wageningen University & Research, BU Greenhouse Horticulture
Greenhouse construction | Smiemans Projecten
