Our 3 Concepts.....

Our First Concept:

Problem:

The main issue that we wanted to address for our first concept is the deprivation in Irvine, 52 out of 182 data zones in North Ayrshire are in the most deprived areas in Scotland.

In relation to the cost of food it is 3x more expensive to get the energy we need from healthy foods compared to unhealthy foods. So, we wanted to investigate how we could make healthy food accessible to the population of Irvine.

We are obviously all focused on attaining ‘net-zero and ‘zero waste’, but we often forget this can never be reached without simultaneously focusing on ‘bio-productivity’.

People currently farm an equivalent Land mass of the total of South America, not including grazing land. We will soon need another area the size of Brazil to feed the next 3 billion people on the way. With the planet warming up and CO2 levels becoming out of control we cannot afford to destroy any more land to farm food to feed the population growth.

The land we have destroyed to make way for farming has made the soil so infertile that more fertilisers are having to be added leading to further ecosystem destruction down the chain. Outdoor Farming Is therefore no longer a sustainable long term practice, so we need a solution to meet the growing populations energy needs.

Solution:

“We are proposing the creation of "Vertigrow”, a vertical farming concept that would be used to grow produce for the residents of Irvine, that could be used to host a monthly community farmer’s market within Irvine and allocate a percentage of the crop yield to a number of schools.

By creating a vertical farm, we could turn Irvine into a front runner of up-and-coming agricultural innovation.

Research:

We saw in the news recently that an Edinburgh based company has just released plans for 40 new vertical farms to be set up over the next 5 years across the UK, whilst Ocado just invested 17million into a London based vertical farm so we are at a critical point where a new wave of agriculture is about to start and we could put Irvine on the map with an innovative design that could turn a small one acre plot into an indoor farm that could produce food with yields capable of competing with a 30 acre outdoor farm, using 70% less water and no pesticides or herbicides.

Regarding the design of the vertical farm, we have still have plenty to research as it is very much a case of ‘form follows function’ therefore we must first establish what crops etc we would want to grow before designing anything, but we have done heavy research into container farming to give us an estimate on cost and potential crop yield, as container farming is the one of the most established in this new area of vertical controlled environment agriculture.

Our Second Concept:

Problem:

To address the problem we are tackling with this 2nd concept it should be mentioned that both COVID-19 and the rise of social media have contributed to our lack of socialising with others in person.

This has led to an increase of chronic loneliness which was a pressing issue in the UK before the pandemic in 2019, when 23% of Britons said that they felt lonely “always or often”.

Furthermore, if you look at your screen you can see quotes from our focus group with the residents of Irvine.

We therefore wanted to find a way to tackle loneliness, social media addiction and the lack of community cohesion within one of our proposals.

Concept:

Our second concept is the (Dis)Connection Garden, a designated offline space. We want to create an idyllic, relaxing outdoor space, designed to encourage the formation of real life, meaningful connections within the community of Irvine, as well as creating an increase in biodiversity.

We propose that the space allows opportunities to disconnect physically, mentally and emotionally.

In order to allow visitors to physically disconnect from the offline world, we would like to create optional Faraday cage booths which disconnect users from a network signal.

To disconnect mentally, we want the space to encourage visitors to rethink their tendency to share everything online by building beautiful art features which are difficult to photograph.

The inspiration for these can be seen on the screen. The sculptures could be designed in collaboration with local artists with the purpose of discouraging social media posting and enjoying the artworks in person. Visitors could be encouraged to document the scenery by creating their own art.

Finally, the space will have an emotional impact on visitors as they will be able to create meaningful connections with others in their community in a tangible, offline way. To encourage collaboration, another area within the site could be used as an auditorium space for local clubs, businesses or societies.

Research:

As previously mentioned, the impact of loneliness was a big factor in our research. According to Age Scotland, “loneliness is as dangerous to a person’s health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day”. However, 52% of people in the UK who self-identified as lonely said they mainly missed simply being with other people, meaning bringing communities together in real life would make a huge difference.

A study conducted in 2016 supports our initial ideas as its findings suggested that taking a break in a green space whilst using technology was the equivalent of having no break at all.

A second study found that those who consumed art had the same benefits as those who created it, meaning that observing the artworks in our proposal would be very beneficial to visitors.

Our Third Concept:

Problem + Research:

North Ayrshire council is currently trying to combat the ongoing obesity rates within the community, with a quarter of P1 children in North Ayrshire already above a nominal healthy weight, while seven out of ten adults are considered overweight.

As shown within the North Ayrshire biodiversity plan, the council continues to seek the creation of quality green spaces to increase availability of outdoor recreation.

Concept:

Our third proposal is a Kinetic Energy Playground. We would create a playground that would generate electricity through interaction with the equipment that could power the park as well as power projectors that would illustrate Irvine’s environmental impact and inform residents of all ages. The interactive element to the park would encourage education through play and be the first of its kind in Scotland.

We want to design the park to be inclusive of all ages and abilities so that it becomes a family space and a day out adventure due to the slightly remote location of our site.

Budget:

All information you can see here is completely based on estimates at this stage from the research that we have collated. Within this budget there is a strong focus on Direct costs, equipment and labour + materials.

Within the next stage of the final proposal we will aim to have more in-depth information with the previously mentioned aspects while also including Indirect costs, fixed/variable costs, licenses and day to day considerations amongst many more details