UK gets its first commercial aquaponic urban farm

A warehouse in London is being transformed into the UK’s first commercial aquaponic urban farm after getting planning permission from the London Borough of Newham.

The GrowUp Urban Farms, which will have its first harvest in September, will use aquaculture and hydroponic technology to produce more than 20,000kg of sustainable salads and herbs, that will be enough for 200,000 salad bags, along with 4,000kg of fish annually.

The farm will use the techniques of fish farming or aquaculture and hydroponics, which would entail growing plants in a nutrient solution without soil in a recirculating system. The waste water from the fish tanks will be sent to hydroponic growing beds, where the waste nutrients from the water will be absorbed by salad plants, and in turn, clean the water for the fish.

GrowUp closed their first investment round in September 2014, giving them over £1.1m for the project. Ignite Social Enterprise, backed by Centrica, funded over 65% of the investment. InnovateUK through its Agri-Tech Catalyst fund has also funded the farm.

Part of the Climate-KIC accelerator, the farm is collaborating with partners including Arup, Sterner and I+S Associates, dRMM and Cambridge HOK on the design and build of the farm.

Saying that the farm represented a more sustainable future for producing food in cities, GrowUp Urban Farms CEO and co-founder Kate Hofman said: "This farm will be a flagship for innovative urban farming, putting food and feeding people at the heart of the development of London as a smarter and more sustainable city."

The farm being constructed will produce salads and herbs throughout the year using Philips’ horticultural LED lighting.

Apart from this, the farm will also produce tilapia, a fish variety that is used in different cuisines.

Most of the farm’s produce will be sold to local restaurants.