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Vertical farm at the heart of new London live music venue will supply on-site independent food specialists and establish ‘hyper-local’ food system

CambridgeHOK is delighted to have completed the build of London’s biggest commercial indoor vertical farm – situated at the heart of a new venue bringing food, culture, live music and sustainable farming together.

Working once again for clients Harvest London, who will operate the farm, our team designed and built the 400 square metre facility which sits at the heart of the new Corner Corner development in Canada Water, in the Docklands of the capital.

It is part of an overall 18,000 square feet development, led by Broadwick, which designs, builds and operates new cultural and experience venues, bringing independent London food vendors and live music events together, under one roof.

The vertical farm itself provides a visually stunning focal point within the building’s food hall, with its grow lights providing a glow across the venue.

Curated by KERB, early pioneers of London’s street food culture and operators of Seven Dials Market, the food hall aims to showcase the diversity of the city’s independent food scene, with outlets championing sustainability by sourcing herbs and salad leaves direct from the farm itself, grown all year-round, with no pesticides used.

‘Ground-breaking project’

Jason Tether, project manager at CambridgeHOK, says it has been an exciting project to work on, alongside Harvest Farms, having previously converted an empty industrial unit in London into a sophisticated indoor vertical farming facility for the business some years ago.

“This is a ground-breaking, exciting project and one we’ve been very proud to be a part of,” he said.

“What the developers have done here is make the vertical farm the focal point of the food hall, which is really helping to spread awareness of sustainable food growth, as the farm provides a visually stunning element of the venue, generating intrigue.

“The other key aspect of this project is that, as a fully working and operational commercial farm, it will also be supplying food to the people of London.

“So, not only will it look great within the venue, it will also be producing high yield, high quality, local and sustainable food.”

Housed in a central glasshouse in the food hall, offering transparency into the vertical farm and the growing of crops, CambridgeHOK completed the full design and fit-out, including grow racks, specialist energy-saving agricultural LED lighting and automated climate and irrigation systems.

Showcasing the benefits of sustainable growing

Chris Davies, CEO of Harvest London, said: “We’re thrilled to have worked with CambridgeHOK again and to be at the heart of Corner Corner, bringing London’s biggest commercial indoor vertical farm to life in such an inspiring creative space.”

“Our mission is to transform the way we grow, distribute, and consume food, and Corner Corner provides the perfect environment to showcase the possibilities of hyper-local, sustainable farming.”

Patrick Harte, joint managing director of CambridgeHOK, said: “This is yet another unique, ground-breaking project where our expertise in indoor growing has been called upon, and we were thrilled to once again work with Harvest London, who really are leading the way in rethinking farming and food production. We are sure it will prove a huge success.”

The venue opened on Friday, April 4, with a 12-week live music program confirmed.

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