RIVERPARK FARM [NEW YORK CITY, USA]

Location: E 29th Street, between 1st Avenue and East River [MAP]
Designer: Riverside
Project Type: Urban Agriculture
Completion Date: 2011
Visited: 15.08.2013
Access: On foot

As a result of the dire economic crash and subsequent stalling building market, something magnificent has been born in the form of the Riverpark Farm. The West Tower within the Alexandria Centre for Life Science, had become a stalled site after the foundations had been laid, however the landowner agreed a temporary farm to be installed in order to continue to maximise the site’s potential. The building site was in full sun and just next to the Riverpark restaurant, so the Riverpark Farm was established, now in its 3rd year and going from strength to strength.

Due to the original site becoming an enclosed building in the future the farm was designed on the understanding that it would be temporary or portable.
Planting in milk crates allowed for this so that when building construction resumed, they could be (and now have been) relocated to outside the restaurant they supply.

The farm is responsible for 100% of the salad mix, and also grows more unusual plants that cannot be easily located in Manhattan.

Providing fresh and local produce to the kitchen is the real thrill of this venture. Customers can walk by the farm before the Riverpark entrance, and see what they are about to eat, and the chefs can select the herbs they need for that night’s service fresh from the garden. A real pioneer of sustainable food in a metropolitan city, and let’s hope an inspiration for the restaurant world.