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City Harvest
An edible roof garden on the Southbank?

Sustain has been seeking a site to create an edible community garden, to encourage more urban food growing in the capital. We picture a future in which much more of London's food is grown by its citizens, both domestically and commercially - on farms, in community gardens, on housing estates and rooftops - with Londoners reaping the many health and environmental benefits of locally grown fresh food.

We are therefore very interested in the idea of creating an edible roof garden - having seen what can be achieved by so many people and organisations worldwide (see some of their stories in the links on the left). Ever since Sustain staff met the roof garden experts Dave Richards, from the RISC edible roof garden in Reading; Dusty Gedge, from LivingRoof.org - who is also a London Leader working to promote green roofs throughout the Capital; and Jane Riddiford from Global Generation, we have been inspired by their ambitions, expertise and sheer enthusiasm.

 
In 2008, the opportunity arose for Sustain to become involved with the re-development of a beautiful four-storey red-brick Victorian warehouse close to the banks of the River Thames - called the Bargehouse - pictured above.

The building is owned by Coin Street Community Builders, a development trust set up in 1984 by local residents following a long campaign against plans to build a million square feet of offices between Waterloo and Blackfriars bridges on London's Southbank. The trust owns a 13-acre site, encompassing 220 affordable homes for people in housing need; a family centre; the Bernie Spain Gardens; and Gabriel's Wharf shopping and restaurants complex. It also includes the Oxo Tower wharf, of which the Bargehouse building forms a part.

During 2007 and 2008, Coin Street has been in discussions with The Hub - an incubator for young social entrepreneurs - planning refurbishment of the Bargehouse, to become the new home of The Hub Southbank. The building will comprise an exciting and flexible mix of hosted space for young people developing business and other ventures that have an explicit social or environmental purpose, with events and conference facilities that can also be used for community activities. The Hub aims to make the refurbishment of the Bargehouse as green as possible, with state-of-the-art energy efficiency, renewable energy systems and innovative green technology integrated throughout.



And then there's the roof. The 300-square-metre roof space on top of the Bargehouse is currently a large grey rectangle of roofing felt - worn by many years of exposure to the elements. In the process of discussing The Hub's plans, it has become clear that an edible roof garden could make a beautiful addition to the building, greatly enhancing the activities planned within the building, and an inspirational community asset in its own right.

Many possibilities are starting to be discussed, drawing on the experiences of community organisations, food-growing groups and experts from London and beyond. Ideas already floated include:
Nothing is yet decided. We have many people to meet with, and funds to be raised. We will need to talk to Coin Street community members, engineers, local authority planners, roof garden specialists, root-proofing manufacturers, water system providers, seed merchants, and suppliers of topsoil. But we know it can be done, and we are confident we can generate the enthusiasm, funds and practical support to achieve a most remarkable transformation.

 

Boris Johnson, London's new Mayor, has already stated that his vision is to see the Southbank transformed into "the Hanging Gardens of Babylon". In August 2008, he appointed Rosie Boycott as his food champion, who has also stated her keen support for roof gardens, community food growing and increased access to healthy and sustainable food for Londoners. Perhaps the Bargehouse Southbank roof garden could be among the first of many new food growing spaces for the capital. We very much hope so. The Bargehouse rooftop could soon be transformed into an edible rooftop garden, similar to the RISC garden in Reading (pictured below).

  

Who are we talking to already?
Sustain is working closely with The Hub to develop ideas for the Bargehouse and edible roof garden, and plans are growing apace. The Hub and Sustain teams are also discussing early ideas and aspirations with:
If you would like to get involved in some way, or simply register your interest in receiving news updates on the progress of this project, please email Sustain's policy director, Kath Dalmeny, at: kath@sustainweb.org.