Diploma project
Autumn 2020
Institute of Architecture
The world is facing several challenges that our generation has been tasked to solve. We need to halt climate emissions and stop the loss of biodiversity, while at the same time feeding a future population of 10 billion. This challenge seems overwhelming at first. But a sustainable future is indeed within our reach.
This project takes a practical approach to sustainability. A common principle to find solutions to the challenges we face is the need to take better care of our resources. We can all make a change by producing and consuming more carefully.
This project takes a practical approach to sustainability. A common principle to find solutions to the challenges we face is the need to take better care of our resources. We can all make a change by producing and consuming more carefully.
IN THE LOOP is a 8730 square meter industrial facility outside of Bergen on the Norwegian west coast. The facil- ity offers a local solution to global challenges by preserving and converting nutrients from food waste into new food.Hence, the main goal is to sustainably produce fish feed and food – more specifically vegetables, microal- gae and insects. These three products are not only alternatives to soy, meat and traditionally farmed vegeta- bles, but their combined production lines also form a circular entirety which adds another sustainability layer to the production. In order for this production loop to add up, the project also has an organic waste fermen- tation facility. The facility also consists of wardrobes and office spaces for the employees, a collective packing facility and two distribution halls.
The programme is both visionary and innovative, two key ingredients to a sustainable future. Its symbolic ef- fect plays a central role in the project, and the facility is meant to inspire action.The public is naturally invited to take part in the solution. A restaurant, a public park and an extension of an already existing path nearby will give everyone the opportunity to get a taste of the future.
Another important theme connected to the facility is research and education.There will be a conference center, additional office space, a test lab and a test kitchen in connection to the production halls. The idea is that an- yone that wants to learn about the future of food can come here to do so. This includes everyone from a child with its parent on a Sunday afternoon to a researcher looking to further develop technologies for sustainable food production.
IN THE LOOP is where modern industry meets sustainability on a deeper level. By focusing on the production of food in a new, innovative and effective production loop, the park offers not only new sustainable products, but an interactive platform where everyone can come to learn about the future of food.
Nina Pernille Marlow og Hanna Hovland Johanson
