The metabolic system and the digesters

The building’s metabolic system is to be understood as its new infrastructure, which exposes the invisible machinery and handy part of the building. The flows of energy, water, and waste that circulate will be supported by the existing metal structures hanging from the ceiling and will constantly be visible to visitors.

The metabolic infrastructure has three key moments and three key treatment systems that allow the flow of different matters to circulate. These I call the “Digesters,” designed to reassemble the existing metal pieces from the building and the byproduct of the new food production. In incorporating these objects, they recover functionality and are modified to include other attributes. They act as convivial hosts as they are situated in front of the main entrances and have an educational function in revealing, with their intriguing materiality, the processes of digestion.

metabolic system and digesters. (not in scale).

Water digester:

The water digester, also the main entrance, is constructed to visualize its processing of water and greywater. It is built with reused metal beams, a roof of reassembled metal plates, reused tanks for the water to be stored in, and soft organic mycelium benches for leisure.

Technicality: The building’s grey water is collected and injected into a filter system. The filter comprises two tanks, one of biowaste and one of sand and stone, which promote bacterial activity to consume pollutants, purifying the water. Water can be collected from the roof when it rains through the gutters and stored in the water tank. The clean water is pumped through the building to the various growing mediums and sinks. The spent water leads back to the water digester, where it can be reused.

Waste digester:

The waste digester can digest the building’s waste products (plant, mycelium, and food waste) into renewable energy (methane gas) and plant fertilizer through composting. This digester is placed on the west side of the building. This is where the public toilets are situated inside a new wall of mycelium, which insulates the space and creates a visually different spatial experience. The building’s waste products are put into a vast compost bag which can expand within its metal construction. Attached to the compost bag are gas tanks that send methane gas through visible pipes to the kitchen. In addition, the slurry can be picked up to be used in the greenhouse or outdoors.

Technicality: The composting breaks down materials naturally through anaerobic digestion. This process is processed by gas-generating bacteria cultures that live off the organic waste, which generates a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide - the metabolic product called biogas. Methane is a colorless, blue-burning gas used for cooking, heating, and lighting. In addition, the digestate or slurry from the digester is rich in ammonium and other nutrients, which makes a proper organic fertilizer in the greenhouse and outdoor farming.

Energy digester

The energy in the building comes from solar panels and a fermentation battery in the energy digester. This digester functions as a kombucha brewery and bar. It is placed at the building’s east entrance. Outside, a big battery bank welcomes visitors into the brewery process in various tanks placed under scoby leather curtains. Further inside, the bar is positioned to be accessed from all around the building. The bar in front of the fermentation battery serves kombucha - a fermented tea made by a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (scoby). The scooby constantly grows, and parts are being dried in the ceiling, creating light brown translucent curtains above the digester.

Technicality: Fermentation is the chemical process in which molecules like glucose are converted to ethanol and carbon dioxide without oxygen (anaerobic) by microorganisms like yeast, fungi, and bacteria. The battery is based on Electro-fermentation, a novel process that electrochemically controls microbial fermentative metabolism with electrodes. The electrodes can act as either electron sinks or sources that allow unbalanced fermentation, which releases energy.