THE AGRITECT
A blog about all things rural and agritourism related
A Complete Guide to Site Plan Approval
What is Site Plan Control, and how to navigate your agritourism project through it smoothly? Master planning an on-farm winery with a restaurant. Co-credit South2010 architects. You may have heard your municipality mention Site Plan Approval when you go to them with a building permit or agritourism request. And you are probably wondering what the […]
Read More...Understanding The OMAFRA Guidelines For Your On-farm Diversified Uses
What are the OMAFRA guidelines for On-farm Diversified uses? The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) created the “Guidelines on Permitted Uses in Ontario’s Prime Agricultural Areas” to assist municipalities in what OMAFRA feels protects “prime farmland” while providing opportunities for different income streams for farmers. It’s important to remember that it […]
Read More...How to create a farm retail store like a major flagship brand!
Did you know your farm store is like the flagship store of 5th Avenue in New York?! A flagship store’s purpose is to convey a brand and provide a shopping experience relating to that brand. That is precisely what you are doing at your farm. You are trying to tie an experience to a purchase. […]
Read More...Farm Store Retail Design Trick & Layouts
In the last blog, we talked about brand and experience, something you are probably doing very well on your farm already! So, what are the practicalities of retail space design for your farm? Customer Flow It starts at the laneway. Ensure they know where to go (this also helps you control privacy). Signage and views […]
Read More...50 Ideas for Your Barn Conversion Project
So, we convinced you to keep your barn! Now, what are you going to use it for? Here are some ideas to give your old barn a new life. We hope these suggestions ignite your creativity for repurposing your old barn into something unique! Barn Restoration for Agriculture Uses: There is nothing wrong with reusing […]
Read More...Providing Excellent and Customer-Centric Design
Good design is good business! A customer who has a great experience will share that great experience! So how do you create a great experience? I firmly believe it starts with thoughtful design of the property, the buildings, the product, the branding, and the story. All this is designed; it can’t just happen, it has […]
Read More...How to adopt a Barn?
Discover the joy of adopting a barn and preserving our rich heritage. Support sustainability, restore architectural treasures, and make a lasting impact.
Read More...Unveiling Barn Conversion Costs: What You Need to Know
“How much will my barn conversion cost?” is the most common question we get, and the answer is it depends! In this blog, we explain the SIX factors that will impact your barn conversation budget. For those who like videos over blogs, we highly recommend you check out our video on barn conversion myths to […]
Read More...3 Basic And Important Questions To Get Right At Your Agritourism Destination
Master Planning farm market and pick your own play farm One of our clients has a really good motto for covering the main bases for your agritourism operation. Beyond “what are they going to do?” you need to be able to handle these other questions if you want to keep people at your property. And […]
Read More...You can now have Second Dwellings on your farm property…
Second dwellings are being encouraged by the Provincial government on all properties in Ontario to help with the housing crisis. This means farm properties, too, but with some caveats. The provincial planning act tries to help by encouraging all municipalities to allow second dwellings on all their property zones and types with fewer restrictions. In […]
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