Greenhouse

Inspired by the humble old greenhouse, a futuristic self-contained food ecosystem offers us a glimpse at a how we might one day have "farm to table" on our apartment block rooftops or in space-poor urban areas. Think of it as a tiny house of produce.

While greenhouses produce wastewater, microalgae-growing operations require a source of water – which is scarce in many regions. A new project aims to address both problems, by growing water-purifying algae in readily available greenhouse runoff.

High-profile British firm Heatherwick Studio recently completed work on an impressive kinetic greenhouse. Named Glasshouse, the project resembles an oversized jewel when closed, and opens up into an eye-catching crown-like form.

With large high-tech sustainable farming facilities located in California and Texas, Silicon Valley-based startup Iron Ox relies heavily on robots to help shoulder the workload. The company's latest bot, named Grover, can lift over 1,000 lb (454 kg).

Would transparent solar cells installed in greenhouse roofs deprive plants of vital sunlight? To find out, researchers at North Carolina State University grew lettuce under various wavelengths of light, and found that the plants did just fine.

Semi-transparent solar cells could be built into the glass roof panels of greenhouses, capturing light at wavelengths that plants don’t use anyway. Models suggest that in some cases these greenhouses could become completely self-sufficient.

Northern France isn't generally thought of as a tropical paradise but a section of it soon will be, courtesy of Coldefy & Associates. The French firm recently unveiled its plan to construct the world's largest single-domed tropical greenhouse in the Pas-de-Calais area.

​​Greenhouses already receive a lot of sunlight, so why not incorporate solar panels into them? That's just what Soliculture has done. But there's one thing to note about its greenhouses – their roof glass is colored magenta. According to a new study, though, it doesn't harm plant growth.

An abandoned military base in Taiwan has been converted into the Penghu Qingwan Cactus Park, a leisurely landscape complete with greenhouses full of cacti, an artists’ village and sea views. Designed by CCL Architects & Planners, the tourist attraction has won a 2017 American Architecture Prize.

US researchers claim to have created an efficient way to take carbon dioxide directly from the air and convert it into methanol - a process which could help the atmosphere and provide clean burning fuel at the same time.

UK architecture firm BAT Studio recently built a 29 sq m (312 sq ft) greenhouse that sits on hydraulic legs. It serves as a safe place for the owners to keep their belongings during floods.

In hot, dry areas of the world, collecting enough rainwater to grow crops can be difficult. Another potential source of water for collection, however, can be dew. Roots Up has designed a greenhouse to collect dew in Gondar, Ethiopia, as part of a scheme to help local farmers with low-tech solutions.