MicroGreens: Bernheimer and LevenBetts’ Tiny Apartment Concept Boasts a Vertical Greenhouse

Designed for the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/bloomberg-announces-winners-of-the-adapt-nyc-competition-to-develop-micro-unit-dwellings/8405926152_49d4256fed_c/?extend=1" target="_blank">adAPT NYC</a> micro apartment competition, <a href="http://bernheimerarchitecture.com/projects/microgreens_adapt_nyc?id=741#img" target="_blank">Bernheimer Architecture</a> and LevenBetts' MicroGreens is an apartment building that combines small spaces and urban farming. The draw of the complex, which was conceptualized with the help of David Leven and Stella Betts, is that every unit has its own edible garden as well as access to a shared vertical greenhouse. MicroGreens also emphasizes how community and <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/narchitects-adapt-nyc-micro-apartment-features-convertible-furniture-and-cool-multi-use-rooms/" target="_blank">social living</a> can be achieved, even in tight living quarters.

The basis behind MicroGreens is to maximize urban farming for a better quality of life. The complex is made up of 56 <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/bfcpockets-entry-for-adapt-nyc-combines-loft-living-with-multiple-roof-terraces/" target="_blank">micro-units</a>, each with an outdoor terrace garden that can foster vegetables and small trees.

A shared <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/american-museum-of-natural-historys-global-kitchen-invites-you-to-eat-from-its-massive-led-vertical-farm/" target="_blank">vertical green house</a> gives each resident the opportunity to garden together, while the roof boasts a communal roof garden with plants and lush grass.

Each floor leads to the vertical green house, which can harvest fresh vegetables year round. Aside from producing food, the vertical greenhouse acts as a thermal chimney, providing natural cross ventilation throughout the building.

Vegetables and fruits harvested from the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/the-globe-hedron-is-a-geodesic-greenhouse-for-urban-farmers/" target="_blank">greenhouse</a> can be cooked up in a large communal kitchen, then enjoyed on the roof, or in the communal lounge. The ground floor has room for commercial space, a green market, and bike storage.

MicroGreens relies on passive technology to sustainably heat and cool the units, as well as natural lighting and ventilation.

The <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/hwkn-blesso-properties-and-bronx-pros-gorgeous-green-roofed-max-tower-a-finalist-in-bloombergs-adapt-nyc-competition/" target="_blank">micro-complex</a>’s focus is on communal living, being more of a collective with shared ideologies, creating a close-knit neighborhood, rather than an anonymous place to call home.