Marlboro Agricultural Education Center: a new vision of urban agriculture

By Editorial Staff - 23 June 2024

In the Gravesend neighborhood of Brooklyn, Studio Gang has designed the Marlboro Agricultural Education Center, a facility intended to promote a new vision of urban agriculture and a more inclusive, accessible food system. Once completed in late summer 2025, the center will serve as a hub for sustainable food production, education, teaching, and community awareness.

This project will play an important role in the area’s redevelopment, linking zones that are currently disconnected as well as bringing with it all the advantages of its rooftop greenhouse, an integral part of its work as an urban agriculture education center. Underlying the project, to be built at New York City Housing Authority’s Marlboro Houses, is a mission to provide equitable access to the food system to every community member, including the most disadvantaged, through an inclusive approach to urban agriculture. Some of the activities in the rooftop greenhouse will specifically target less-advantaged people, offering opportunities to engage in local, sustainable food production and learning labs.

Besides the rooftop greenhouse, with its extensive glazing that connects the interior and exterior, the Marlboro Agricultural Education Center will have an indoor market (for the winter, in particular), a teaching kitchen offering classes and demonstrations, and a multipurpose room for job training. And the center will offer a broad range of educational and professional courses, including internships and certificate programs. It will also partner with schools, nonprofits, and other groups involved in the sector.

A sustainable project

Marlboro Agricultural Education Center © Studio Gang

While the completed center will work to promote a vision of a more equitable and sustainable society, its design also centers on sustainability. Its materials, for example, will be able to stand up to heavy use and weather conditions, and therefore require minimal maintenance over a lifecycle of more than 60 years. The architects arranged the sections of the center according to the same principle, with the greenhouse, for example, on the top floor to maximize sunlight.

“All New Yorkers deserve access to healthy, nutritious food,” said Mayor Eric Adams. “This state-of-the-art agricultural education center will help us get closer to that goal, while providing an invaluable, resilient space that will bring sustainable food, jobs, and education to this community.”

“Using our most advanced construction tools, we are converting this space into a state-of-the-art urban agricultural center that will support local food production and offer education, job training, and internships on-site,” said New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) commissioner Thomas Foley.