Town Centre Regeneration

Town Centre Regeneration Idea: The 5p Project

People – Place – Planet – Prosperity – PeachyKeen

PeachyKeen’s main focus has been creating electricity sustainably using human movement. Specialising in the mechanics, electronics and activities required for fitness and playground equipment. However our knowledge base can be extended to generate electricity through other renewable energies including wind, hydro and solar technologies.

We firmly believe that the great British High Street is changing and with change comes exciting possibilities AND opportunities. Your local High Street can be seen as a space for urban farming, a factory, a power station symbiotically linked with retail and residence. Just imagine a High Street capable of producing a large percentage of, and better still, all its electricity requirements. Powering new, clean technologies that would allow people to live, work and play in the centre of town.

The 5p Project

Take a moment and imagine your own High Street. Large buildings lying dormant. Now picture these buildings brought back to life through an exciting Town Centre Regeneration project. Contained in these buildings could be the production of renewable energy. The cultivation of edible plants using hydroponics for urban farming. The manufacture of products using evolving technologies based on 3D Printing. The selling of grown produce direct to the public or delivered via electric cargo bikes to local customers.

The once boxed in windows shine again although they seem different as they are solar panels capturing indirect, reflected light. Enter through the main doors, an aroma of fresh salad crops, herbs and soft fruits fills the air. A food hall is packed with nutritious, vibrant produce grown on the premises available throughout the year.

Children have their own play area with all the activities creating and demonstrating renewable energy. Allowing them to recreate and literally plant the seeds of sustainability. Adults also have their own ‘play area,’ a 24 hour gym. All the pieces of equipment with moving parts act as mini generators harvesting electricity.

Urban Farming

Where, you may ask, is all this edible greenery coming from and what systems are in place to nurture and power such an enterprise?

Similar in principle to the redundant tube tunnels in London or carpark roofs in Singapore, urban farming is taking place using hydroponic and vertical growing technologies. Where the process of farming plants uses water, a growing medium and a nutrient solution rather than soil. Nutrients, light, water, temperature and other environmental factors are controlled, allowing maximum yields in limited space.

Plant nurseries can flourish inside these buildings, adapted to suit any size of space. Filled with aluminium shelves illuminated with intensely bright red and blue LED light. If you listen carefully you can hear the soft trickle of water that is gravity fed and re-circulated on a programmable schedule.

The cultivation areas are modular, with scalable containers that can be configured to grow a whole variety of tasty greens and juicy fruits. Grown independently of the external seasonal weather conditions, these crops are available year round. We could even use this space to experiment with tropical fruits that create thousands of tonnes of CO2 as they are transported across the globe for us to enjoy. Scottish bananas sound particularly ap-peel-ing, don’t you think?

The loading bay is a hive of activity with eager staff processing online orders. Electric cargo bikes are ready for local delivery. In the corner is an electric van on charge ready to venture further afield.

Renewables

Up on the flat roof, row upon row of solar panels soak up the suns rays – even on the cloudiest of days! Vertical wind turbines, are high enough to capture the wind from any direction and low enough to be hidden from view.

Rainwater is channelled down drainpipes to storage tanks that provide water for the cultivation areas. Funnelled en route through a water turbine system, which in turn creates electricity. The height of a large High Street buildings lends itself beautifully to the required header height.

Our local High Street provides unique opportunities to establish these new ambitious enterprises. Building on proven success, imagine if all the energy generating elements described here could be cleverly incorporated into various buildings along with smaller hydroponic/vertical urban farming systems.

Additive Manufacturing

In the spirit of stronger together and with the emergence of creative technologies there is perhaps another opportunity to establish design and manufacturing businesses in the High Street.

Within the power house that was an empty High Street store, equipment could be made on site to establish and maintain this edible, energetic enterprise. Expanding on the concept of self-made components, why stop there?

Utilising techniques based around 3D Printing and traditional skills all sorts of useful items could be made “just in time” to order. Utilising the High Street, we can take advantage of the physical infrastructure, yet preserving its architectural character.

Pooling the resources of initiatives like Developing the Young Workforce through local schools and colleges to nurture people as well as plants. A path of progress from Primary to Further Education is available in the local community. Providing meaningful experience, with real, exciting technologies.

All the seeds to reinvigorate Town Centres are readily available – especially in our minds. To grow a sustainable, productive High Street that encapsulates the important areas of our work and play life.

This strengthens our community and benefits everyone with a viable response to climate change.

Circular Economy

These plans might sound a little ambitious, they are in fact utilising resources that are readily available to us and adhere to the concepts of the Circular Economy.  Namely, creating a sustainable environment where there is no waste. Products are designed with re-use, recycling, repurposing in mind and most importantly we work with nature.  

PeachyKeen Town Centre Regeneration Pilot

In the initial stages of a pilot with the emphasis of Town Centre Regeneration in mind. We were delighted to have the assistance of Business Gateway Fife. Through their Expert Help Scheme we were able to investigate the possibility of utilising one of Kirkcaldy’s large dormant buildings to power an urban farm through renewable energy. This study took in to account Kirkcaldy’s own weather from previous years including sun, wind and rain and how we could use these natural resources to power the building. The outcome of the study proved that it was feasible to grow fresh produce in the town centre through renewable sources available to us. 

PeachyKeen have now started Phase One of our demonstrator project. The goal to prove our Town Centre Regeneration concept in our own building. This was made possible through two grant awards from Fife Council and Business Gateway. The purpose of these grants was to improve our energy efficiency. Through Circular Economy Solutions and the expertise of Callum Scott we were able to purchase sixteen 380 watt panels and includes a Hybrid Inverter of up to 8kW as well as two 5.2kW batteries.

The next stage of our Phase One pilot includes the feasability to create a Digital Twin with NMIS. (National Manufacturing Institute Scotland) The Digital Twin is a software modelling tool that will be used in future planning frameworks to ascertain the implementation of The 5p Project in different buildings and locations. Allowing us to take into account different renewable energy sources that are appropriate alongwith suitable urban farming produce.

The Future

As you can appreciate there is a lot of “food for thought!” With an overall goal of creating a nationwide blue print to rejuvenate the High Street – if we may, this article will be updated with progress.

 “Don’t be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so.” – Belva Davis

Last updated 17th February 2023.