ROOF terrace growing
part of the ‘watch dalston grow’ series
Community growing plots AgrocitĂŠ - Paris
why grow in the city?
04
Traditional Food Production Contemporary Food Production
05 06
Food Poverty
08
what is terrace growing?
10
The Concept
12
The Potential
14
how will it work?
16
Policy and Ownership
16
Scaling the Project
18
what you need
20
how it is managed
22
Small Scale Management
24
Self-Governance
24
Managing a Network
25
visualising
26
what can be grown?
30
the instructions
insert
Growing plots at Camley Street Nature Reserve - London
ROOF terrace growing a ‘watch dalston grow’ prototype
This manual aims to provide the information required to facilitate a terrace growing project in the UK. This guidance has been formed in relation to ‘Watch Dalston Grow’, a wide reaching urban agriculture project in Hackney which aims to empower locals to reclaim their neighbourhoods alongside addressing the pressing issues such as deprivation and food poverty.
why grow in the city? When fully considered, the question why we don’t commonly grow food in urban areas is relatively unanwered. The precedents attached to this project (see Watch Dalston Grow Precedents) show there is an interest and numerous examples of where it has been done well both in the UK and all over of globe. The more direct question of why grow in the city is easily answered therefore. Growing in the city links supply to demand of food, however the modern food demand, expects all foods irregardless of season. Urban agriculture is a great use of dead spaces in our cities. As well as providing produce, they also brighten the grey address modern comsumption and aid community cohesion.
Traditional Food Production Traditionally, humans have always existed alongside food production. However industrialisation of the western world began to seperate this as food became transportable and able to retain freshness through new technology. The separation of people and production has led to expectations of exotic foods all year round. This project attempts to reintroduce the production within the people to unlock the benefits that this brings.
FOOD MILES * miles approximated. based off produce from tesco stores - sheffield
300
miles
contemporary Food Production
MUSHROOMS
Only recently has a widespread interest appeared around the production of their food. Arguably this started with GM crops which boosted sales in organic foods. An increase in the fair trade movement could also be attributed to this. More recently, this concern focussed around food miles. Whilst the distance food has been transported is now vast, it is still often more energy efficient for this to occur rather than growing exotic foods in the UK. The issue therefore surrounds again the expectation of exotic and out of season produce. This modern day expectation could arguably be attributed to the separation of production and people.
ORANG TOMATO GAR AUBERGI COURGET BROCCO LETTU
7500
BLUEBERRIES
miles
GES OES RLIC INE TTE OLI UCE
PEPPERS
800
2300
miles
miles
PEACHES GRAPES
6000
miles
Food miles of a selection of winter produce of a Tesco supermarket
Food Poverty Whilst urban argiculture does not have to be a reactionary means (such as the victory gardens during the world wars), an important argument for projects such as this is to increase access to nutrious food. Those who lack access (either spatially or financially) to healthy food are described as being in food poverty. Areas of the UK with concentrations of deprivation and social housing (i.e. a high percentage of inner city areas) see large numbers of people in food poverty. Poor diet is now attributed to a third of premature deaths in the UK which the Faculty of Public Health blames on food poverty forcing lower income groups to eat processed foods. Growing healthy, nutrious food in the city can have a huge impact on these groups therefore. How this can be done through terrace growing will now be explained.
Community food production AgrocitĂŠ - Paris
what is terrace growing? Urban areas, however dense, almost always contain ‘dead’ or underutilised spaces. Roof terraces are one of these spaces, and are especially effective for communal growing if they exist along a terrace. This manual explains how an efficient growing space can be established at a number of scales along roof terraces, as a form of active urban agriculture.
the concept Roof terrace growing is based around common roof terraces which can exist at any height, which often have the benefits of greater sun exposure than at ground level in a city. If underutilised, these terraces are easily gardened, even if they are owned by another party. These spaces have the potential to be gardened individually, as part of a growing association or for the benefit of the community, depending on the network of actors involved. Growing projects such as these benefit from a network of similar projects around it to provide knowledge, skills, volunteers as well as the physical resources to maintain function.
How will it work? In the UK, residents do not have a right to development, hence the need for planning permission. However agriculture does not constitute development, therefore gardening of any sort, can be carried out without permission. Roof terrace growing however does require consideration of a few other forms of policy, depending on ownership of the site. In Dalston, where this project was devised, the roof terraces exist on the first floor, facing the road, above commerical units (labelled A1 or A3, refering to their use class). The buildings also contained residential use (C3) in the form of privately rented flats. In every situation, the use below the terrace will always be the legal ‘owner’ of it. When they are rented, the landlords need to be considered as the main actor. To garden on a roof terrace, permission is needed from the landlord and the use below the terrace (in this case the commercial unit). If it is being gardened by someone who does not have access to the building, an easement will need to be granted by the landlord to anyone wishing to access. This is simply done and can be informal. Physical access onto the terrace may be more difficult. In the case of Dalston, access was found at the end of the row and it was this landlord who needed to grant the easement to use their access onto the roof terrace. Once access has been granted and a space is ready to use, it is worth considering how this space will be gardened, and how it could be expanded if others come into the project. Increasing the scale of this project is a great way to garden more efficiently, as well as having more varied produce, expertise and people to benefit from it.
a1, a3 or a5
5
conservation area Controls the external alterations to properties in the area. This includes the right to remove trees. Alterations concerning gardening are not considered however.
Governance between flats It is important that any alterations are agreed between all users of the building to ensure community cohesion.
terrace ownership In law, the owner of a roof terrace is solely placed into the owner (or renter) of the use below it. Therefore the commerical unit will always need to be consulted for gardening to occur on ‘their’ roof terrace.
Residential Access Access to the residential units is secured via a separate door to the rest of the building. If this is the only access up to the terrace, an easement would need to be granted by the landlord to anyone who doesn’t currently have access in.
the potential
How is it managed? landlord permisson
gardening agreement
01
02 commercial unit decides to use terrace above to grow. Informal access used to reach the space
03 resident in the same building joins in after commerical unit informally allows access
04 landlord grants formal permission for commercial unit and resident to garden the space. landlord provides formal access to the space
neighbouring landlord gr to access t landlord’s p landlord to
once participants increase, the need for formal self-governance increases. As with Prototype #01, participants are subject to external pressure. The number of central landlords are determined by the number of access points to the terrace. A growing association is formed to oversee the collective use of the space. This insures the space is gardened efficiently.
prototype #03
NETWORK trustee conservation officer
prototype #01
conservatio
ent easem
original commercial
at
ion
resident with original access
gro w
ing
ass
oci
landlord controlling access
NETWORK trustee
NETWORK trustee
planni office
planning officer
dalston eastern curve garden
external pressure 06
easement easement
05 05
gg commercial commercial and and residential residential interest. interest. rants ants easements easements to to allow allow neighbours neighbours the he terrace terrace via via the the street street through through property. property. Also Also requires requires neighbouring neighbouring oo allow allow gardening gardening to to occur occur inin the the space. space.
original landlord landlord required required to to grant grant easements easements to to all all new new participants. participants. original
landlord landlord
commerical commerical
resident resident
gardening gardeningnetwork network
non-participant non-participant
prototype prototype#03 #03
NETWORK NETWORK trustee trustee
on n officer officer
prototype prototype#01 #01
iinng g aas sssooc ciiaat tiioon n
entt emen ea eassem
original originalcommercial commercial
resident residentwith withoriginal originalaccess access
ggrro ow w
landlord landlordcontrolling controlling access access
NETWORK NETWORKtrustee trustee
NETWORK NETWORKtrustee trustee
ng ing r er
dalston dalstoneastern eastern curve curvegarden garden
self-governing self-governing aa network network
Here we see a typical ‘Actor Network’ of how growing projects such as these start to grow
Scaling the Project
disused gardening space
informal agreement to garden the space
what needs to occur? who is involved?
individual gardening space
COLLECTIVE gardening space
COM
Extension of the agreement
Easements from landlord with acces
Possible need for formal access
Collective agreement from all landlo Governance of Use
Communal meeting space for decision m
Individual commercial units
commerical unit
individual commerical users
residents
collective commercial and residential ternants
collective commercial and residential landlord
landlord individual residents
landlord
neighbouring residents
landlord
neighbouring commerical units neighbouring landlords commerical users
what is it challenging?
other prototypes
challenging reliance on supermarket food
testing the governance of a building
taking control of food production
challenging the underutilisation of space in cities
removing barriers preventing commun
challenging privatisation of modern l
testing the flexibility of planning pol challengin concepts of ownership
Road
SPRAWLING gardening space
MMUNAL gardening space
ss to allow others to enter terrace
activism
ords and tenants
making
l ternants
collective commercial and residential ternants
conservation officers
landlord
planning authority
neighbouring residents
highways agency
neighbouring commerical units
wider activists
neighbouring landlords
local gardening groups
commerical users other prototypes
nity engagement
challenging boundaries of occupying public space
lives
challenging rigidity of ‘high quality public space’
licies
actively taking contol of the community challenging need to source products outside the local
what you need As the project grows, you will start to discifer the best way in which to work. One way which is particularly resilient is by using reusable and recycled materials and share these in a network of other gardening spaces nearby. Elements such as seeds and compost as well as invaluable knowledge are easily shared amongst gardening groups/projects which exist almost everywhere. In the early stages, this network can quickly help the project become self sustaining once compost and seeds are being generated. Only minimal inputs such as recycled palettes to create planters will then need to be inputting into the system, while your project becomes a catalyst in the network to help newer ones. As projects start to develop, new techniques will undoubtably form such as seed ‘upcycling’, a free way to introduce new seeds into the system using wasted food. Sharing these skills and knowledge is imperitive for the network to grow and adapt to remain function into the future.
1 Attracted to start a gardening project in Dalston area
2
new individual gard
recycled wood
compost
network local collection external source
network
new project new project
new project
4 ‘growth’ of garden
dening ening project
front garden collective project
3
guidance
5
seeds
contributing back into the network
compost skills
knowledge
external source
seeds
supermarket upcycling
LOCALLY CLOSED LOOPS OF PROTOTYPE 01
Small scale management Starting a project and managing it whilst it is small requires simple agreements between the gardener, the landlord and the tenant under the terrace to use the space which may stretch as far as an easement and potentially a share of the produce (01-03). It is important that a good relationship between these groups are maintained as these projects are visual, they attract attention and if they were to grow, it is only these individuals who can allow it.
self-governance The management of these projects exist in a self-governing form. This is important to be inclusive and it allow those involved to use the gardening spaces how they wish. Strong dialogue between gardeners as projects grow and reaching collective decisions is important to allow a communal growing space to involve, and not a series of individual spaces. Communal growing prevents neglection, allows greater yeilds as well as a range of expertise for decisions such as crop rotation.
managing a network A successful project which has grown in size and which has applied the ideas of creating a network outside the project, also needs to consider a network within it. Diagram 06 shows how a growing association may be managed. With a space for the association to meet, a collective decision making process can occur which is a benefit of the self-governing process.
visualising sunrise
N
kingsland roa
d
1pm
what can be grown? Try anything! If it can be grown in the UK, theres no reason why it can’t be grown on a roof terrace. Considering the exposure to shade and wind is important, as is the soil type/compost and drainage used in planters. Beyond this however, the sky is the limit. A list of relatively simple and commonly grown crops are listed below: • Aubergine • Beetroot • Broad Beans • Brocolli • Brussel Sprouts • Carrots • Courgettes • Cucumbers • Garlic • Green beans • Leeks • Peas • Potatoes • Raspberries • Rhuburb • Spinach • Strawberries • Tomatoes • Winter Salad
tHE INSTRUCTIONS The insert provides instructions towards the physical aspects of creating a ‘Watch Dalston Grow’ garden. This includes building garden infrastructure from recycled palettes and sourcing seeds. Sharing, updating and adding new knowledge and information is essential for this manual and the attached instructions to retain relevance moving forward. Below is a link to the Facilitating Resilience blog (for which this project belongs to), where information can be shared in a discussion board, which allows this guidance material to stay as relevant as possibly. Any information you feel is relevant for others to know, whether it concerns technical set up, gardening knowledge or anything else, please feel free to share this information using the link below. Thank you!
www.facilitatingresilience.wordpress. com/student-projects-christopherhall
Produced by Chris Hall in relation to MA Urban Design Project ‘Watch Dalston Grow’ for studio Facilitating Resilience Sheffield School of Architecture
www.facilitatingresilience.wordpress.com