BTN Housingpreneur Gives Birth to Sustainable Vertical Housing Innovations

INFO TEMPO – BTN Housingpreneur 2025 introduces the House Design category in its competition. BTN is seeking the best architectural design ideas for landed houses and vertical housing (low, medium, high) based on sustainability principles.

In the House Design category, the evaluation criteria include the originality of ideas and products, as well as innovations in function, aesthetics, and layout. Additionally, the application of sustainability principles such as energy efficiency and environmental friendliness is considered. Designs that account for cost efficiency with competitive quality are also assessed, along with their applicability to various housing types, including landed and vertical homes.

Growing Habitat and TerraGriya have received recognition from BTN for meeting all the criteria in the House Design category and achieving high scores. Both present vertical housing that emphasises sustainability.

Rafi Zufarul Fahd, a student from Brawijaya University, submitted his design idea for Growing Habitat: Vertical Agriculture Village with a Permaculture Design Approach in Malang City at the BTN Housingpreneur 2025 event.

Rafi chose the Vertical Village concept due to the continuously increasing population in Malang City. According to BPS records for 2024, Malang’s population has reached 885,000 people. Unfortunately, many residents are concentrated in urban areas such as Klojen and Lowokwaru sub-districts, leading to density. Due to high population growth, land density has also increased.

Observing this situation, Rafi was challenged to create a decent and affordable housing design for low-income communities (MBR). “Vertical housing becomes an efficient solution in minimising land conversion,” he said.

MBR, the unique potential of urban villages such as social interaction, and a vertical village that retains urban village characteristics formed the initial idea for his Growing Habitat design. He then designed a vertical village integrated with a comprehensive agriculture system. “By adapting a permaculture design approach (permanent agriculture), it is hoped that a closed, circular, or sustainable design cycle can be created,” said Rafi recently.

According to Rafi, vertical villages, often known as flats, are actually different from the Growing Habitat he proposes. In Growing Habitat, vertical housing is integrated with agriculture.

He stated that urban agriculture has great potential in supporting food security and improving urban environmental quality. Meanwhile, urban farming is already known in Malang society through verticulture techniques. “But so far, it has been on a household scale.”

To implement it on a large scale, Rafi chose the Permaculture Design, which also promotes principles of ecology, ethics, and system efficiency in resource management. “This design can encompass earth care, people care, and fair share.”

He added, “Moreover, this vertical village housing concept is focused on MBR, so food self-sufficiency can be achieved in the future,” he said. Rafi also wants to design housing that is not just for living, but becomes a highly productive space close to daily life.

According to Rafi, establishing Growing Habitat requires a base land area of approximately 15,615 m², which will provide mid-rise buildings for MBR. Meanwhile, agricultural functions are prepared within the building for an urban farming system.

To begin construction, the mass concept is prepared, namely the transformation of building mass and the zoning process for housing and agriculture in the building. In addition, the Social Terrace Concept is prepared as a place for socialising, bringing urban village interactions into vertical housing.

Rafi also proposes building space zoning consisting of the ground floor as commercial areas and agricultural workshops, while floors 2-6 are housing integrated with private and communal agriculture. “Later, in one Structural Floor Level (SFL), there will be 2 levels of housing with sufficiently wide and multifunctional circulation for resident interactions and activities.”

Meanwhile, Permaculture Zoning is prepared, consisting of Zone 0: Core Habitat as the vertical residential/living area. Zone 1: Edible Threshold as the private food zone in housing units (balconies). Zone 2: Agro Commons as the communal farming zone in the rooftop area. Zone 3: Productive Land as large-scale communal farming (soil-based), and Zone 4: Wild Buffer as an area for developing non-food vegetation. Rafi is confident that using this concept can produce 135 units of type 24 and 90 units of type 36. “Total housing can reach 225 units.”

In its development, Growing Habitat can also provide cooperative housing established by and for residents. This is a system to support the maintenance and operation of agricultural facilities, managing facilities within it through a joint cooperative system. The vegetable commodities that can be grown and managed include, if using hydroponics, fast-harvesting vegetables like mustard greens and bok choy. While if using soil-based, fruit vegetables like tomatoes and chillies, or family medicinal plants (Toga) like turmeric, ginger, and others, as well as climbing plants like beans and long beans, can be options.

Rafi was surprised that his idea brought him to first place in the BTN Housingpreneur 2025 event. “There is satisfaction because the concept I propose, which focuses on sustainable and adaptive housing, has been well received by the judges and industry practitioners,” said Rafi. “I hope this concept can be implemented in Indonesia and achieve food security.”

In the future, Rafi hopes that young innovators in the housing sector can