Hardware Design

Redesign Dutch buckets with a maximum width of 8 inches to hold annuals and perinnial crops for 2 years. e

Objectives

To fit shallow root annual plants and deep root cascading perennials in the same balcony and create modularity without repetition of plant varieties. 

Gap analysis

• Current buckets were 12 X10X12 inch  

• Balcony skirting cover and stirrup were at a slant so we lost some floor distance 

• The balcony was only 5 feet wide usable area so we could not increase the width 

• The balcony would get heavy rains in the summer 

• Rains would flood the hydroponic system 

• Same running length had to hold ornamental plants on one side and edible on the other which created 4 nutrition zones 

• Gutters and rainwater draining had to be accommodated at the time of construction to fit the buckets 

• The buckets had to be moved and cleaned once in 4 months

• Roots of the perennial could be as wide as 3 meters 

• 8 inch high to accommodate big roots

• 8 inch high so the cascading plants can shimmy from under the balcony glass 

• triangular bucket design allows continuous seem for landscaping

• gaps in landscaping and create two holding zones

• gap under the bucket to run plumbing

• Plumbing managed 4 different zones for front and back buckets giving full plant freedom

• Nutrition intake and exit both are the same thus maintaining zone PH

• injection mold of the base plate and the rest of the body was glued with waterproof sealant

• The front of the bucket slightly sunken due to gutter depression