SCIRE Location
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As a self-contained environment, the SCIRE includes facilities for the cultivation of plants to feed the population. While referred to as hydroponics in most documentation (including things like maps and door labels), the facilities also utilize aeroponic techniques.
Unlike much of the arcology, the hydroponics facilities were not constructed as part of a superlift, but built in place using more conventional techniques starting on Level 21 and alternating in a 30/20 repeating pattern above that through Level 201. There is no facility on Level 221, but the pattern resumes on Level 251. Each floor where they're found typically has four complexes, though lower floors can have as many as ten.
Each facility is approximately 100 m (330 ft) across, and about 10 m (33 ft) tall. This makes them fit into the footprint of four superlifts, but only three stories tall. The sections above and below each hydropic garden (corresponding to the next level of superlifts) typically contain aquaculture farms, food storage, and waste processing facilities.
All facilities have a uniform arrangement, starting with full height transparent densiplast walls with an airlock at each of the four corners. Within each facility are twelve smaller green houses, arranged around the outside. The units in each corner are slightly smaller at 200 m2 (2,200 sq ft) each than those along the walls, 260 m2 (2,800 sq ft), to accommodate the load-bearing pillars. Each corner includes groups of small planters, typically dedicated to niche products rather than bulk foodstuff production. There is a small tool shack connected to each of the pillars that contains equipment for tending to these specialty crops.
The main greenhouses consist of racks of hydroponic and aeroponic growing trays, extending some 6 m (20 ft) tall. They're typically serviced by drones, but are structurally stable enough to allow for tending by humans if required.
In the center is a ring of hydroponic trees, typically fruit-bearing varieties. These trees do not have traditional root systems, but are instead arranged in a semi-liquid growth medium. Within this circle are four hemispherical greenhouses, typically reserved for plants that grow best in an environment even more extreme in heat or humidity than the main greenhouses.