Local intern architect Michael Sirois, who recently earned a master’s degree from Laurentian University, has argued a hydroponic greenhouse should go on roof of the new arena/events centre slated to open by May 2028

Local intern architect Michael Sirois, who recently had his master’s thesis approved by Laurentian University regarding the connections between architecture and food security, is pictured in Downtown Sudbury, where he’s arguing the new arena/events centre should include a hydroponic greenhouse on its roof. Pictured behind him is the empty lot which factors into the new arena/event centre’s proposed footprint, which includes ancillary services.

A bird’s eye view of Greater Sudbury reveals a series of blank canvases on the vast majority of rooftops, with various types of roofing squandering the sunlight plants use for photosynthesis. Meanwhile, an estimated 31,000 Greater Sudburians are living with food insecurity, which climate change and socioeconomic challenges have been exacerbating. For local intern architect Michael Sirois, this presents a unique opportunity and a solution: rooftop hydroponic greenhouses. And what better showpiece/starting point is there, he asked, than the new $200-million downtown arena/events centre slated to open by May 2028?

“Once I heard that a new arena was proposed, I thought, there’s going to be a lot of roof on that arena,” he said. “It seems to me that we should be making an effort to include this on anything that’s new.”

Sirois has been exploring the topic of food insecurity’s link to architecture for several years, and has been digging deep into the topic for the past two years while drafting a master’s thesis on the topic with Laurentian University’s McEwen School of Architecture.

His thesis, titled “Cultivating Resilience: Architecture and Urban Design for a Local and Circular Food System in Sudbury, Ontario,” was defended on April 11, and accepted.

Although the thesis tackles various options for Greater Sudbury, and prompted the creation of a website promoting the concept of growing local food, the concept of rooftop greenhouses is one Sirois said the city should seriously consider with their downtown arena project.

Now’s the time to do it, he said, as the design stage is the best time to consider adding structural capacity to accommodate the added weight. Although hydroponic systems can be less heavy than soil-based systems, he said it’s still additional weight that needs to be factored into the design.

“Our roofs are designed so we can hold an excess amount of weight for snow ... but once you start adding in glass and metal for greenhouses, it does get a bit heavy,” he said. 

Sirois envisions the new downtown arena as serving as a very public example that rooftop greenhouses can work.

“If the City of Greater Sudbury can show this is an honest-to-goodness feasible aspect to food production,” he said it might set a precedent for businesses to follow suit with their own ventures.

“I envision this thing as being more an opportunity to teach and demonstrate that this is a possibility."