Pasona Urban Farm with a vertical farm inside and out.
Kono Designs, the architecture firm behind the largest urban farm in Japan, hopes that 15,000 square foot corporate office
building with a double skinned green facade will make urbanites reconsider agriculture and embrace this new design trend. 20% of the Tokyo based recruitment agency Pasona is dedicated for growing fresh vegetables, flowers and fruits.
Pasona Urban Farm is beyond aesthetic and visual improvement. It creates a unique workplace environment that promotes worker’s productivity, mental health, and social interaction and engages the wider community of Tokyo by showcasing the benefits and
technology of urban agriculture.
Using both hydroponic and soil based farming, crops and office workers share a common space. For example, tomato vines are suspended above conference tables, lemon and passion fruit trees are used as partitions for meeting spaces, salad leaves are grown inside seminar rooms and bean sprouts are grown under benches. The main lobby also features a rice paddy and a broccoli field.
These crops are equipped with HEFL, fluorescent and LED lamps and an automatic irrigation system. An intelligent climate control monitors humidity, temperature and breeze to balance human comfort during office hours and optimize crop growth during after hours. This maximizes crop yield and annual harvests. Seasonal flowers and orange trees are planted on the balconies between the double skinned facade, partially relying on natural exterior climate to showcase changing of leaves and colors to the exterior facade.
