The Biospheric Project to open its doors

The Biospheric Project invites the wider world to become part of its groundbreaking urban farm experiment at the Manchester International Festival (MIF13) in July 2013.

BDP, with industry partners including Siemens and Ener-G, has been involved in developing detailed designs for a ‘bio-productive climatic façade’ following a successful funding bid to the UK Technology Strategy Board Greenius Awards. The Biospheric Project is led by the Biospheric Foundation – a group of young researchers who have a vision to change the way cities and communities interact to create a more sustainable way of living.

During MIF13 the Biospheric Project will offer a glimpse into the inner workings of this interconnected system, with indoor and outdoor growing experiments in their early stages, including forest and roof gardens, vermiculture, bee hives, chickens and mushroom systems.

Set in a disused Salford mill, visitors will see two ingenious indoor aquaponics systems, which use nitrate-rich water from fish tanks to fertilise salad and herb crops, before reusing the water in the tanks. One of the systems pumps water from fish tanks on the first floor to grow leaf crops in rooftop polytunnels. The second is a test Bio-productive Climatic Façade system – a ‘Greenius Wall’ - designed to maximize bio-productivity by using dormant space on the sides of buildings.

The project aims to develop a fully functional vertical farm system which could be replicated on a larger scale in the near future.

The Biospheric Project is commissioned by MIF Creative and Salford City Council, produced by Manchester International Festival and The Biospheric Foundation, and supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and players of People's Postcode Lottery.

For further information and tickets visit http://www.mif.co.uk/event/the-biospheric-project