Gigantic rooftop greenhouse to be constructed at Belgian fruit and veg auction

On the roof of the premises of the Belgian vegetable auction REO Veiling, a rooftop greenhouse will be constructed. The gigantic 9,500 m² project, named as "Het Groente Paleis" (the Vegetable Palace), will serve as a demonstration and research facility to showcase and study the opportunities of sustainable food production in urban settings.

The research center is realized on the roof of the crate warehouse of fruit and veg auction REO. The Vegetable Palace will be the landmark of 'The Green Hub' at the Roeselare ring road. The project is to be an example for urban food production, intensive use of space, circular energy and water usage and sustainability in greenhouse horticulture.

The 9,500 m² building comprises high-tech research facilities for the cultivation of fruit and leafy vegetables, surrounded by an educational routing for a wider audience. The entry, with wide stairs, leads to the Urban Farming Square with visitor facilities. In the so-called Façade Greenhouse at the ring road, there's a special department that will focus on innovation in vertical farming.

Construction of the greenhouse starts early 2017. In the beginning of 2018 it will be open to growers, researchers and the general public.

"We are very pleased with this ambitious project and the clients; Inagro and Reo Veiling show that professional food production can be connected to the city," says architect Jago van Bergen, director of Van Bergen Kolpa Architecten. "For the Vegetable Palace, we further perfected the most durable and user-friendly Venlo greenhouse," says Jeroen Smiemans, director of Smiemans Projecten.

"This will be a major upscaling in the application of urban horticulture on roofs: the biggest in Europe, which we will gladly apply our know-how to," says Jan Willem de Vries, team leader of facility management at Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture. "The climate design offers new, innovative opportunities for sustainable energy use," says Tineke Duysburgh of Technum Engineers. "A true public building for the city of Roeselare," says Niklaas Deboutte of Meta Architectuurbureau.