Urban Sprout Vertical Farm Part 1 Project 2024 Drew Dennehy University of Wales Trinity Saint David Swansea | UK Designers seek to design sustainable buildings, analysing passive heating and cooling or specifying renewable materials. Though, buildings are only truly sustainable when they are economically, socially, and environmentally responsible, considerations that were embedded from the start and throughout the design phase.The designs primary concepts focus on transparency and creating a journey. Vertical farming is a new process, providing an educational opportunity and stimulating public experience. The aquaponic phases are separated across each floor, accessed via a central core. Water, the connecting element in aquaponics, rises through the core joining each level whilst guiding the public up through the core.The building's functional aesthetic exposes services and structural elements as features. The farm utilises solar, wind, and geothermal energy to minimise operating costs, with excess energy being shared to nearby buildings or stored in batteries underground. The ventilation strategy was thoroughly considered to generate cross-flow, same-side and shaft ventilation allowing optimal control of the internal temperature.The building is raised on a timber diagrid, leaving the ground floor accessible to the public. This space provides allotment areas for locals to grow produce, as well as room for a weekly market for farmers to trade and learn about aquaponic farming. Tutor(s) Gavin Traylor