BEIJING, China suffers from some of the worst air pollution in the world but it is taking steps in the right direction by building structures dedicated to
increasing its green footprint.
An educational centre for urban horticulture has been built to act as a vertical fruit and vegetable garden where ornamental cultivation and a roof garden for trees and plants exists alongside human inhabitants.
The 3,500sqm layout is spread over three floors and was designed and built by two Dutch companies.
The slender steel structure overlooks the city and campus of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences along Beijing’s 3rd Ring Road.
It is a place where researchers, growers and the public can learn the latest techniques in vegetable and ornamental cultivation and has been described as “a department store of green solutions for the city”.
The Agri Garden is equipped with a drive system, intelligent environmental control system and integrated water and fertiliser systems Inside there is a rainforest reception hall, intelligent fruit and vegetable laboratory, leafy vegetable automation laboratory as well as a flower and a seedling research and development centre.
It is equipped with ‘intelligent’ environmental control systems include multiple precision sensors and weather stations which monitor the climate change in each greenhouse climate zone. This provides an analysis in real time of a green houses’ irrigation, climate and energy needs.
Integrated water and fertiliser systems are installed and applied to a variety of different planting scenarios, including the drip irrigation system for solanaceous fruit planting and the DFT system for leafy vegetable planting.