ZURTEK launches its vertical farming modules for urban agriculture
Available in two different versions: one suitable for yards or roofs and the other, designed for narrow balconies that needs a wall for support.
After an innovation and diversification process, driven by worldwide crisis, ZURTEK, an insertion company whose product is wood engineering and construction, has bet on enriching its offer with set of devices for urban vertical agriculture, which they call “crop modules”.
These crop modules, built in solid larch wood, are meant to be used in yards, balconies and roofs, where conditions for an standard vegetable garden are no feasible.
The product, built in two different models and three sizes, allows in its biggest version to grow in vases up to twelve square feet of soil, while at the same time keeps cared aesthetics to place it inside your house and a strong make to withstand any outdoor conditions.
The studied design can be easily adapted to a wide range of crops, simply chosing the most adecuate position for the shelves and using the stainless steel rails for support for the selected plans.
The crop modules have been christened ZURNEK after ZURezko NEKazaritza, which means “Agriculture made of wood” in Basque Languaje, and they are available in the form of a complete easy assembly kit to be sold in specialiced retailers’.
Actual tendency of urban farms as a leisure actuvity, is reflected in the special attention put on ergonomy and accessability, that make possible the use of this structures by elderly or handycapped people, recovering this way a leisure activity lost long ago in our cities.
Due to their flexibility, and following the didactic and leisure trends, ZURNEK crop modules close the gap for vegetable cultivation in schools and residences.
The first experimental vertical vegetable graden is already functioning in the roof of the Fundación Peñascal building, in Bolueta, Bilbao.
Easy installation of commercial watering systems or even new hydroponic systems make this structures ideal for any season of the year to all the urban dwellers interested in getting involved in the horticulture though they might not be able to access to the necessary surface to set of the conventional systems available up till now.
Zurtek, according to its social role, contributes with a ZURNEK installation with BIORTU, the urban garden network started by EUTOKIA, the center for social innovation of Bilbao.
Zurtek
Zurtek engineering company started its labour more than a decade ago in Dima, Bizkaia province, Spain, under the cover of Fundación Peñascal. Since then, it has centered its activities in the design, manufacturing and assembly of wooden structures used in special buildings, sport centers or traditional buildings.
Manufacturing proccess, based in a CAD/CAM system, is entirely automated, and rests in last generation CNC machinery.
Fundación Peñascal
Fundación Peñascal was created from the Taller Escuela Peñascal (created in 1986), in order to train people to live independently integrated into a workplace increasingly competitive and specialized.
The Fundación Peñascal raises comprehensive education, trying on one hand, to provide adequate training and, second, to create in students habits of responsibility that will enable them to deal with problems in the workplace, social and personal. Finally, it aims to promote solidarity and cooperation among students as its primary objective.
All this translates into an educational project with specific and measurable goals and an innovative methodology that has been forged over these 20 years of operation.
