Melbourne Skyfarm revealed: A public rooftop carpark transformed into a bountiful urban farm in the Melbourne CBD

In a Victorian first, a large section of a 2000m2 rooftop car park in the heart of the Melbourne CBD has been transformed into a thriving urban farm, with works continuing over the next 12 months on this new rooftop city oasis, which when complete, will feature sustainable and contemporary hospitality sites, environmental education as well as business conference facilities and event spaces.

Aptly named Melbourne Skyfarm, the sustainable city oasis is located in the emerging Seafarer’s precinct and directly overlooks the Yarra River to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. When fully completed in the second half of 2022, Melbourne Skyfarm will be opened to the general public and will be a mecca for visitors as they tour the working farm, visit and sample from the rooftop orchard and herb gardens, dine at the sustainable cafe, enjoy a drink or coffee overlooking Melbourne’s skyline and Yarra river, hire one of the three unique event spaces on offer, purchase plants from the rooftop nursery, as well as attend classes in the environmental education area.

The first chapter of Melbourne Skyfarm will celebrate and mark the completion of the urban greening and urban farming component of the farm, which has occurred with the support of a $300,000 grant by the City of Melbourne Urban Forest Fund, which represents about 10 per cent of the budget of the overall project.

Melbourne Skyfarm has been initiated by a group of leading Melbourne-based sustainability companies including urban farming company Biofilta, The Sustainable Landscape Company and nature regeneration and protection group Odonata, with the generous support of Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) and City of Melbourne Urban Forest Fund.

The site is expected to host thousands of school students annually, visiting to participate in immersive education experiences on sustainable living, regenerative practices and protection and restoration of nature. Thousands more visitors are expected to undertake farm tours, enjoy workshops, visit the café or attend events. The site will demonstrate how to grow fresh produce and incorporate nature into city spaces, whilst using greenery to help cool the urban environment.

With the capacity to produce over 5 tonnes of fresh produce per annum, much of which will be donated to food charity OzHarvest, Melbourne Skyfarm is a case study of Melbourne’s contribution to a global push to create food security and climate adapted cities. Skyfarm showcases how we can overlay our city spaces with living systems that improve the ability of our cities to cool our microclimates in the face of increasing heatwaves, absorb rainwater runoff, improve downstream water quality, host beneficial biodiversity, generate fresh produce, reduce food miles to food meters, and improve nutrition, social connection and liveability.

Melbourne Skyfarm features:

• Advanced urban rooftop farm, rooftop orchard and nursery

After seven years of R&D, and around $1 million in investment, Biofilta have perfected Foodcube, an advanced self-watering wicking bed farming module that is the horticultural backbone of the food production and greenery on Skyfarm. Foodcube urban farms are a breakthrough urban farming system that can be rapidly installed on to any underutilised city surface – rooftops, courtyards, carparks, backyards and schools, able to be installed in days and generating food within weeks for communities who need access to fresh produce. Made from 80 per cent recycled food grade plastic in South East Melbourne, Foodcubes are a positive circular economy and local manufacturing story for Melbourne and a positive story for food security generally. Skyfarm can grow more than five tonnes of fresh produce per annum, with a large proportion of produce being donated to Melbourne food charity OzHarvest as well as being used in the menu of the Melbourne Skyfarm Cafe. The farm will also incorporate a rooftop orchard, composting, a rooftop nursery and a range of urban biodiversity and habitat initiatives to attract beneficial insects to the rooftop.

• Environmental education space

Melbourne SkyFarm will feature an education and classroom space, providing an exciting platform for educating primary, secondary and tertiary students, community groups, businesses and future leaders about the rapidly growing field of sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. Melbourne Skyfarm will educate students about a range of best practice initiatives including renewable energy, urban greening, zero waste living, urban farming, rainwater harvesting, closed loop cities and urban biodiversity.

• Café and event space

Melbourne Skyfarm will feature a 90-seat licensed café and a unique range of public and hireable spaces for events, exhibitions, meetings, conferences and celebrations. The hospitality elements of Melbourne Skyfarm will champion best practice sustainable farming, low-waste hospitality techniques and native ingredient use as well as sustainable produce from the Greater Melbourne and Victorian regions.

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