Description:

'Street to Eat' is an urban farm, community kitchen, and open mic venue. The project poses a response to the high demand for community meals in Ōtepoti Dunedin, at an urban scale, and reduces dependency on the increasing prices set by conventional food supply through the incorporation of a hydroponics farm. Supplementary to the farm and community kitchen, covered outdoor performance spaces provide patrons unrestricted access to the joy of live entertainment, establishing Street to Eat as a community hub within the CBD.

In responding to two quite contrasting issues affecting the community across Ōtepoti Dunedin, this project aims to playfully blur the boundaries between them through the creation of community-focused architectural space in the city. In recent years, food prices have increased at almost double the rate of inflation. The impact this has caused within the community is demonstrated by the success of 'The Bowling Club', a small yet effective community kitchen that serves roughly 700 people each night they are open. In addition, this creative city with a vibrant music scene has in recent years suffered the closure of many open mic venues, most notably 'The Dog with 2 Tails' in 2023. Today fewer and fewer places remain for amateur artists to practice and hone their craft.

The creation of a pedestrian street through the site allows the spaces between buildings to function as courtyards, while the main thoroughfare, recognisable by the yellow canopies encourages people to break off, finding more quiet or more exciting spaces to pause and enjoy their food. The hydroponics farms, located in areas of year-round sunlight sit above the kitchens, minimising time between farm and table, while for maximum accessibility, all public areas are found on the ground floor.

In ‘Street to Eat’ a low-tech approach to Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) has been implemented using passive climate control methods. The average humidity of Dunedin is similar to the levels required in a greenhouse. When coupled with Ōtepoti’s mild temperatures, it is possible to cool and regulate humidity when needed using outside air, via a series of controllable vents, as opposed to air conditioning. Relatively high sunlight hours mean minimal UV lighting is required, and rainwater collection would be sufficient to sustain a hydroponics system. Use of thermal mass on the floor and southern face of the greenhouse also provides some passive heating during the night.

Circularity and resilience are at the core of ‘Street to Eat’, from the self-sufficiency of growing food on-site, to the bringing together of community through food and music. When 'Street to Eat' reaches end-of-life, an intuitive kit of parts construction allows durable and versatile

building elements to be safely disassembled and re-purposed within the construction industry.