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Growing Underground: an underground farm built in an abandoned rail tunnel under the city of London by Richard Ballard and Steven Dring.
"AN URBAN FARM LIES FAR below the surface of London, out of reach from any fresh air and sunlight. Growing Underground uses innovative LED lights to grow produce such as coriander, broccoli, fennel, and other micro herbs in an effort to promote zero-carbon food. The farm’s bounty goes on to fill the plates and shelves of high-end London restaurants and big-name stores such as Marks & Spencer.
To make up for the lack of natural light, the plants are grown beneath LED lights that bathe the bunker in an eerie pink glow. The lights shine the brightest at night, when electricity is the cheapest. The produce is grown with hydroponics, meaning the seeds rely on a cocktail of mineral nutrients and a water solvent rather than soil.
Before Growing Underground moved into the space, the shelter had been abandoned for 70 years. It’s one of eight deep-level bomb shelters built around London during World War II, that at Clapham North was constructed between November 1940 and 1942. At one point the large shelter housed 8,000 troops in a labyrinth of stairwells and tunnels that stretched for more than two miles over 100 feet underground."
"AN URBAN FARM LIES FAR below the surface of London, out of reach from any fresh air and sunlight. Growing Underground uses innovative LED lights to grow produce such as coriander, broccoli, fennel, and other micro herbs in an effort to promote zero-carbon food. The farm’s bounty goes on to fill the plates and shelves of high-end London restaurants and big-name stores such as Marks & Spencer.
To make up for the lack of natural light, the plants are grown beneath LED lights that bathe the bunker in an eerie pink glow. The lights shine the brightest at night, when electricity is the cheapest. The produce is grown with hydroponics, meaning the seeds rely on a cocktail of mineral nutrients and a water solvent rather than soil.
Before Growing Underground moved into the space, the shelter had been abandoned for 70 years. It’s one of eight deep-level bomb shelters built around London during World War II, that at Clapham North was constructed between November 1940 and 1942. At one point the large shelter housed 8,000 troops in a labyrinth of stairwells and tunnels that stretched for more than two miles over 100 feet underground."
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