Buzz Buildings insect farms, Sweden

Belatchew Architects of Sweden are pioneering the design of alternative food solution urban farms, what they call ‘Buzz Buildings’. Buzz Buildings, at the moment still a design proposal, would be insect farms for the purpose of consumption that are positioned on Stockholm’s major roundabouts. If nine of these urban farms were in operation, it could provide the entire city of Stockholm it’s protein.

The design allows for all farm production as well as a restaurant to fit within the space (Source: Belatchew Arkitekter, 2022)

The building design for their cricket farm proposal takes the form of a doughnut, fitting for the site of a large roundabout. The proposal integrates spaces for the entire production flow ‘from egg to fully grown insect’ over four floors. It also includes a restaurant serving up dishes prepared with the farm’s insects. The architect’s say this challenges the mainstream meat market, where people can hardly associate what is on their plate to the animal it came from. By having a restaurant on the same site as the food is farmed they are ‘offering accessible knowledge about where their food comes from’. The open centre of the structure serves as a courtyard type of space full of foliage, hosting a haven for pollinating insects and enhancing the city’s ecology. Along with the central garden, some of the walls of the Buzz Building are perforated to allow bees to come inside the building in order to pollinate plants within.

If Buzz Buildings were developed across nine major roundabouts in Stockholm they could produce enough protein to feed the entire city. (Source: Belatchew Arkitekter, 2022)

Not only does this proposal avoid claiming new spaces, but by farming insects as a food protein source, it becomes a far more efficient. Both the area covered in order to rear livestock and the area covered in order to grow enough food for them are greatly reduced when the livestock is replaced by insects. The same amount of fodder it takes to produce 1kg of beef would produce 9kg of insects. This urban farm offers a sustainable option to incorporate protein production into urban environments, and if developed in conjunction with other urban agriculture techniques could be a valuable addition to making food productive cities.

Buzz Buildings would not only provide a food source within the city but aid in the development and sustainability of the ecology in the city. (Source: Belatchew Arkitekter, 2022)

For further information see the project’s own website.

BuzzBuilding

Image: People who choose to dine within a Buzz Building would see a direct connection fromt he farm to their food. (Source: Belatchew Arkitekter, 2022)

Back to previous page Related information and design projects