1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Ho Chi Minh City
Region
Asia
Native title of the NBS intervention
Trang Trại Thẳng Đứng
Short description of the intervention
The Urban Farm Office building, is a concrete-framed structure covered in a "vertical farm" of vegetables, fruits and herbs. The building was constructed by the Vietnamese architectural firm Vo Trong Nghia (VTN) Architects in early 2022 as its own headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City. It aims to promote the production of safe food while reintroducing green space to the city with a façade covered in vegetation. Furthermore, the project also seeks to address the absence of green space that contributes to a number of socioeconomic issues, including air pollution, flooding, and the heat island effect. VTN Architects' idea for the Urban Farming Office includes the area of space-efficient food production in cities through vertical urban farming in addition to the core objective of restoring vegetation to urban structures. (1, 3)
Address

39A Ta Hien, Quarter 1, Thanh My Loi Ward, Thu Duc city
Ho Chi Minh City
Vietnam

Location
Point location, which indicates where the NBS takes place
Total area
300.00m²
NBS area
300.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Residential
Central Business District / City Centre
Building
Website of the intervention
https://vtnarchitects.net/tru-so-chinh-van-phong-vtn-architects-p189.html
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
unknown
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
unknown
End date of the intervention
2022
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Goals of the intervention
Urban Farming Office has two main goals to create a green, comfortable environment, adapted to climate change in tropical urban areas, and to contribute to the sustainable future of the city of Ho Chi Minh:
- Reintroduce green space to the city by creating a concrete-framed building covered in a "vertical farm" of vegetables, fruits and herbs.
- Address the lack of green space that contributes to a number of socioeconomic issues, including air pollution, flooding, and the heat island effect.
- Build the domain of space-efficient food production with minimum energy consumption in cities through vertical urban farming ( 1, 3)
Quantitative targets
- To include an area of 300 sqm for greening (3)
Monitoring indicators defined
- The size of the area proposed for greening (3)
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
Climate change adaptation
Environmental quality
Air quality improvement
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Green space creation and/or management
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Creation of opportunities for recreation
Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
Sustainable production
Climate change adaptation: What were the goals of the NBS?
Reduce the impacts of climate risks events on urban places and communities
Climate change adaptation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Increase or improve urban vegetation cover to help reduce outdoor temperature
Implement green walls or roofs to lower indoor temperature and provide insulation
What types of restoration goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
Species-focused
Implementation activities
The Urban Farming Office is a private project developed and implemented in 2022 in a response to rapid urbanization and its effects in Ho Chi Minh City. The company that initiated the implementation is called VTN Architects and works included implementation of concrete planter boxes. These are designed to be modular so they can be replaced or moved relatively easily ensuring that the plants can be relocated to meet any changing growing and sunlight needs. Locally grown food plants, including fruit trees, vegetables, and herbs were selected in the rooftop area. Other plants were used in the hanging flora.
( 1, 2, 3, 4)
Type of NBS project
Creation of new green areas
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Nature in buildings (indoor)
Green walls and ceilings
Nature on buildings (external)
Green walls or facades
Balcony greens
Type of Green Wall
Climbing façades
Vegetation Type
Trees
Garden beds
Please specify how many trees were planted
Unknown
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Provisioning services
Food for human consumption (crops, vegetables)
Regulating services
Local climate regulation (temperature reduction)
Air quality regulation
Cultural services
Mental and physical health and wellbeing
Scale
Spatial scale
Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Citizens or community groups
Governance
Governance arrangements
Led by non-government actors
Non-government actors
Private sector/Corporate/Business
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
This project is led and financed by Vo Trong Nghia Architects firm (3)
Key actors - initiating organization
Private sector/corporate actor/company
Land owners
Private sector or company
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Private sector/corporate actor/company
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Unknown
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
No
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Unknown
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
No
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
No
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
No
Co-finance for NBS
No
Co-financing governance arrangements
No
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Not applicable
Financing
Total cost
Unknown
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
Unknown
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
Unknown. Costs have not been disclosed
Source(s) of funding
Corporate investment
Type of fund(s) used
Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
Non-financial contribution
No
Business models
Green densification model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Private for-profit actor (e.g. firm, insurer)
Type of innovation
Technological
Product innovation
Please specify technological innovation
I'd argue the intervention is innovatiove in the sense that it introduces the concept of vertical farming to the city of Ho Chi Minh. (1,2)
Novelty level of the innovation
The innovation is copied/derived from previous initiative(s) without substantial adaptation
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
Vertical farming is a very popular and trending approach nowadays. It is also mentioned in the sources that the implementer took into account the works of architects such as Stefano Boeri or WOHA who have a high trademark in this approach. (3)
Replicability/Transferability
The innovation is transferred to new initiative(s) without substantial adaptation
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
The project has similar projects implemented in other cities. The same architecture firm designed similar projects such as Chicland Hotel, Bat Trang House, House for Trees, and the famous Halong Villa. (3)
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Climate change
Lowered local temperature
Environmental quality
Improved air quality
Green space and habitat
Reduced biodiversity loss
Description of environmental benefits
- Lowered local temperature and improved air quality: Though the initiative has been private and reports have not been published it was expected that the vertical farm will create a comfortable microclimate throughout the building. Furthermore, combined with the glazing, the vegetation that is growing on the facade filters direct sunlight and purifies the air. It is irrigated with stored rainwater and cooled through evaporation. "Conversely, the northern wall is relatively solid for future extension, with small openings to enhance cross ventilation. It is a double-layered brick wall with an air layer inside for better insulation". All of these contribute to cooling the inside and reducing the use of air conditioning inside the structure. (3)
- Reduced biodiversity loss: Together with the roof garden and the ground, the building provides up to 190% of green ratio to the site area, which is equivalent to 1.1 tons of harvest. Various local edible plants, such as vegetables, herbs and fruit trees, are selected to contribute to the biodiversity of the region. They are maintained with organic treatment methods. (2)
Economic impacts
Unknown
Description of economic benefits
Unknown. No economic benefits have been reported.
Social and cultural impacts
Unknown
Description of social and cultural benefits
Unknown. As this is a fairly new intervention social benefits have not been reported. Due to the private nature of the intervention online sources were not including interviews with the workers for which the building was designed.
Type of reported impacts
Expected impacts
Indicators
Unknown
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
No information available
Environmental justice: The implementation of the NBS project resulted in ...
Improved access to green and/or blue spaces
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
As the intervention has been established post pandemic no information regarding Covid19 has been provided.
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
No evidence in public records
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Unknown
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Unknown
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
List of references
(1). Astbury, J. (2023). Vo Trong Nghia Architects wraps own office in urban fruit and vegetables farm. Available at https://www.dezeen.com/2023/01/25/vo-trong-nghia-architects-vietnam-office-urban-fruit-vegetables-farm/ (Accessed on February 8, 2023).
(2). Brandy, K. (n.d.). Vo Trong Nghia's 'Urban Farm Office' Reintroduces Tropical Nature to Ho Chi Minh City. Available at https://www.designboom.com/architecture/vo-trong-nghia-vtn-urban-farm-office-vietnam-01-30-2023/ (Accessed on February 8, 2023).
(3). Elengical, J. (2023). VTN Architects’ Urban Farming Office is a creative eden wrapped in a biophilic facade. Available at https://www.stirworld.com/see-features-vtn-architects-urban-farming-office-is-a-creative-eden-wrapped-in-a-biophilic-facade (Accessed on February 8, 2023).
(4). Luu, H. (2023). “Trang trại thẳng đứng" thu hoạch cả tấn cây trái của KTS Võ Trọng Nghĩa [Vo Trong Nghia's Urban Farming Office harvested tons of fruits]. Available at https://vneconomy.vn/trang-trai-thang-dung-thu-hoach-ca-tan-cay-trai-cua-kts-vo-trong-nghia.htm (Accessed on February 8, 2023).
Comments and notes
Public Images
Urban Farming Office
Urban Farming Office - Office of Vo Trong Nghia Architects
https://www.dezeen.com/2023/01/25/vo-trong-nghia-architects-vietnam-office-urban-fruit-vegetables-farm/
Urban Farming Office
Urban Farming Office
https://www.dezeen.com/2023/01/25/vo-trong-nghia-architects-vietnam-office-urban-fruit-vegetables-farm/
Urban Farming Office
Urban Farming Office
https://www.dezeen.com/2023/01/25/vo-trong-nghia-architects-vietnam-office-urban-fruit-vegetables-farm/