Vision

Avling Brewery is a staple in the Toronto brewery scene. With great drinks and great food, installing the rooftop farm is the cherry on top an already great establishment. The rooftop farm not only supplies the kitchen and brewery with fresh ingredients but also offers a space for the community to come together and learn about sustainability in the urban environment.

Design

The 370 sq.m (4,000 sq.ft) fully accessible rooftop farm was designed for community groups to congregate comfortably while maximizing the available space for crop production. Areas for composting, water harvesting, seed germinating, and storage were thoughtfully included. This allows for all necessary materials to be available on the roof for crops to be grown sustainably and with techniques adopted from typical permaculture practices.

Green Roof Assembly

Intuitively, ZinCo’s Urban Farm assembly was installed here. Using Floradrain® FD 40-E, ZinCo Anti-Dig mesh, and our specially designed Urban Farm Growing Medium Blend, robust vegetation thrives in as little as 200mm (8”) of depth. ZinCo’s Pedestrian Walkway assembly was also employed here to create a safe and convenient way for people to traverse the roof without impacting crop production.

Key Challenges

With Avling Brewery being located in the heart of Leslieville, this posed a challenge for the transport of materials. Thankfully, with the use of a crane, blower truck, and skilled installers, all materials arrived to site safely and were installed efficiently.