Almost 60% of the world live in cities and nearly 100% of apartments are not designed for urban farming. So the solution is to create a simple, modular hydroponic system that can work around existing homes and architecture. In these unprecedented times, a virus quickly taxes our food supply and you need to be in control of your own. To help you do that, we need funding of $149,000, which may seem a lot. But not if we can make entire cities like Singapore, Shanghai, Berlin fertile.
OKB is a Lego-like hydroponic system designed to configure to any apartment layout. When you own a OKB, you're part of a movement to make cities fertile and self-sufficient. It helps you take care of your plants whether you are a first timer or an experienced urban farmer. It's designed to be hung on windows, balconies, corridors, and anywhere there is sun.
The success of growing plants requires lots of direct sunlight and unfortunately, you can't carry sunlight around. But you can easily move your OKB to suit your plant's needs! Just as easily, you can farm leafy herbs and vegetables from the balcony, window or corridor to your table. Yes, OKB is designed to look great even on your table! This is the stand out feature that sets OKB apart from the rest of the market. Its thoughtfully designed form follows function.
Apart from looking good, it's also serious about farming. When properly planned and rotated well, the OKB will yield enough to feed a family of four. We estimate 5 OKBs per person. That's 30 pots that you can harvest 2 plants every two days for a month continuously, for 50% of your vegetable needs. Think of it this way, two plump bok choys (or 8 for the family) every two days. Food independence at a very affordable price.
And how does OKB stack up against the competition?
There are a lot of hydroponic systems out there but none like One Kind Block. Some are very sophisticated but IOT doesn't always make things easier. We started from the basics. What's the easiest way to grow, the minimum fuss and in a modular system that adapts to your apartment? And oh, look good for house proud owners.
Farming with One Kind Block is like playing with Lego. Each OKB Set, comes with 3 blocks that you can easily assemble together. The unique design connectors make these blocks plug-able and you can connect as many as you need to suit your space. Each unit (excluding plants) weighs only 1.3 kg when filled with 1 litre of water.
Each 18cm long OKB allows you to grow two plants - minimum footprint with maximum growing space! So 3 blocks at 54cm, will grow 6 plants. In our tests, we've even managed to squeeze 12 plants, comfortably into the same 3 blocks.
City apartments are not getting any bigger or cheaper, so for modern apartments the OKB uses unrealized farming spaces without infringing upon your liveable spaces.
OKB is a neat, compact and portable farming system for common areas like corridors. It doesn’t inconvenience your neighbours, and is in fact scalable to make whole corridors fertile and create high-rise gardening communities.
We had a kampung (community) spirit on the ground, now it’s about creating a kampung spirit in the air!
And why is it important for cities to be fertile? It helps working adults de-stress, while reconnecting the young with nature. Gardening promotes mindfulness and indoor plants have a positive effect on the human mind and body. Studies show up to 60% reduction in depression, over 40% in anger and just under 40% in anxiety.
One Kind Block can flourish at work too. Plants increase the productivity of the office by up to 15%, and these days home is the office. Plants have been proven to increase motivation, concentration, energy levels, and decrease fatigue. And most essentially, they also increase the air quality.
With more people packed together than ever before, research conducted by the National Parks of Singapore has shown gardening has a therapeutic effect on the elderly by easing dementia and lowering depression. Our kids should grow up thinking it's normal to grow food in apartment blocks. So One Kind Block also makes communities fertile and builds a 21st century kampung spirit.
One Kind Block is designed to fit anywhere in your apartment. Balconies, corridors, windows, even pick up trucks (don't try this at home). Because the best light is sunlight. It is so portable, so easy to set up and dissemble, so fuss free and so not messy. And you won't be limited to spaces close to electrical points.
Being a passive hydroponic Kratky system, OKB is incredibly easy to use. Just fill it up with water and nutrients is all you need to do. You'll never over or under-water your plants! It's completely sealed so it won't breed mosquitoes either. No soil is needed, so no creepy crawlies or messy floors. And because it's so slim, it won't block your corridor and annoy your neighbours.
No space in your apartment? Well that's a thing of the past. OKB is designed to maximise whatever space you have to farm. Even in restaurants and offices.
Did we mention we're proudly made in Singapore? You can be assured of our Singapore mark of quality and trust. This is also our 2nd Campaign on Kickstarter- the first being the successfully funded GIY (Grow it Yourself) Stick which was shipped to 20+ countries!
The OKB is not limited to being placed only on flat surfaces. In fact, the back of each One Kind Block is designed to be hung with Zipties or adhesive wall hooks (each block can be supported with a 5kg limit hook). We recommend that you use 2 zip ties secured diagonally, per block! We've designed a sloped gradient so that you can easily thread the zipties through smoothly. Yes, we even thought of that. And that innovative circle is designed for any type of hook.
Each set comes with 6 zip ties, 6 cups and sponges, 2 end covers and 3 top covers. Just add seeds or cuttings and hydroponic solution.
One Kind Block is incredibly simple to use but deceptively complex to engineer. We made 12 prototype blocks just to get the connectors right. It's made from 3mm thick high-quality ABS plastic, so you can connect them confidently without warping. It feels solid and built to last, yet designed to be very light.
The ABS plastic is also UV resistant, meaning you can leave it outdoors even in the harshest tropical sun or temperate climates. We've even developed a small catch at the bottom of each connecting block, specially engineered to prevent sagging when you are connecting a long series of OKBs.
My interest in farming started when I gave a talk at SMU on the Future of Urban Farming at 11. I was even featured in national advertisements on that very subject.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have grown up in an urban farming community which has helped me understand what urbanites need, which informed the design of OKB.
At the heart of this community is One Kind House, a place where creators, inventors, innovators and collaborators gather and define a 21st century kampung. Above all, One Kind House is about being kind and championing being one of a kind.
We've been prototyping the One Kind Block since 2016, with PVC pipes and tubes of all shapes and sizes. We even used a small fish tank pump and installed IOT to monitor nutrient levels.
But it was still too complicated. I almost gave up. So I went to play with my LEGO set and as they say, the rest is history.
The making of One Kind Block takes place in Singapore, so we do not have a dependancy on other markets for manufacture. The close integration of physical distribution and materials management will avoid potential bottlenecking and help speed up the completion rate. Moreover, due to its close proximity between stations of production processes and assembly, transportation time and costs will be kept to a minimum.
One Kind Block is production-ready with all tooling and manufacturing processes in place. Upon successful funding, we will begin first batch production and get your orders ready for shipment!
We can't predict what the postal and delivery systems are like in all your respective countries. Should there be any unforeseen delays or roadblocks down the line, we assure you transparent and regular updates. We will certainly be checking up on all the global delivery situation and update you from there. All packaging will come with an Air Waybill and tracking number.
