Calgary-based studio Modern Office of Design + Architecture (MODA) — the winners of Canada's 2022 RAIC Emerging Practice Award — has completed a forward-thinking mixed-use development that combines multi-residential housing and urban farming to build community and foster social interaction.

Called GROW, the project features 20 units of varying sizes, which are accompanied by a 0.6-acre rooftop urban farm. Additional green spaces come in the form of private gardens, vegetative roofs, and apiaries. 

The units suit a range of ages and family sizes, including small 450-square-foot studios, medium-sized 600-square-foot condos, 1.5-story lofts, and large 850-1,000 square-foot, two-story townhomes. This arrangement brings various demographics together, such as young professionals, students, and families with children. 

In addition, residents can come together by participating in all facets of farming, including spring planting, daily maintenance and care, harvesting, and engaging with the broader Calgary community through the weekly preparation and sale of harvest baskets. 

The scheme’s activated social spaces function to blur the differences between its residents, which is significant in a city where community growth is often not at the center of design, the architects say. 

As stated by the architects: “If GROW’s approach to ‘social-engineering’ were to become more prevalent in our inner-city communities, and we were to focus on building social capital in tandem with real estate capital, we could create more equitable and inclusive inner-city urban spaces; schools, community centres, and grocery stores that serve multiple purposes by design.”