Hotel Brings Urban Farming to the Next Level
Sustainability meets luxury at one of Amsterdam's newest lifestyle hotels. In an effort to provide more than just a nice place to sleep, QO Amsterdam has implemented an impressive circular system that includes a rooftop greenhouse, proving that there is a lot of room to grow in the hospitality industry.
With a strong environmental vision, QO Amsterdam developed a fully-functioning, self sufficient ecosystem as an active approach to circularity. The hotel runs their “living building” by connecting all floor levels to their rooftop greenhouse. The greenhouse grows distinctive fruits, vegetables, herbs and even fish! All their in-house produce is used in the hotel’s eateries, Persijn and Juniper & Kin.
Aquaponics play a vital role in the hotel’s greenhouse system. The natural fish waste provides organic food for the plants. In return, the plants clean the water for the fish to thrive and live their full natural life. The system is mutually beneficial and ensures a constant circularity of resources.
To make the greenhouse run efficiently, QO Amsterdam employs a full time rooftop farmer, Matthias van den Berg, to manage the system. In addition to growing highly valued and specialized produce, Matthias works with the QO team on research and development to implement innovations in urban agriculture. The greenhouse is an open environment that encourages guests, schools and locals to come up to the 21st floor to learn more.
Although rooftop farming is not necessarily new, QO Amsterdam is taking the lead by introducing high-tech urban farming to the hotel industry. By familiarizing their international guests to this form of sustainable food production, people around the world can be inspired to explore new ways that they could practice urban farming at home. That’s an upgrade we could get used to.
