Building Integrated Technical Food Systems

In countries such as the United Kingdom - where the opportunities for increasing food production are limited due to the lack of available land - urban agriculture is seen as a possible solution to meeting increased food demand. However, many cities in the United Kingdom exhibit high building densities and the availability of space at ground level for agricultural activities is in short supply.

As a result, the practice of urban agriculture in high-density cities is typically portrayed as a succession of purpose-built edifices that are filled with lettuces or livestock; illustrating a method of food production that is dependent on substantial investment and the demolition of existing buildings to succeed. Within this thesis, these large utopian agricultural skyscrapers are pushed to one side, and existing buildings become the focus of the research; so as to work with cities as they exist today rather than against them.