NEW BUILDING OPENING 2025

Gastronomica

Where pioneering entrepreneurs solve global food challenges

at Colworth House

AVAILABLE SPACE

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Grounded in Nature, Rooted in the Future

Gastronomica is a cutting-edge hub revolutionising the food-tech industry, set within the inspiring environment of Colworth Science Park alongside the Unilever Colworth R&D Hub. Backed by Pioneer Group, it offers dynamic, cost-efficient spaces equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, empowering innovators, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders to tackle global food challenges, scale ideas, and drive sustainable solutions.

Where culinary creativity meets technological advancement, Gastronomica is the launchpad for shaping the future of food. It’s a space where ideas flourish, connections thrive, and innovation knows no bounds.

Commercial Kitchen and Tasting Room for Hire

Looking for a versatile space to bring your culinary ideas to life? Our Commercial Kitchen and Tasting Room is now available to rent, offering a fully equipped, professional-grade kitchen designed to meet the needs of chefs, food developers, and businesses alike.

Ideal For:

  • Recipe Development and Testing: Perfect for chefs and food innovators looking to experiment with new flavours, refine recipes, or ensure top-tier quality.
  • Product Showcases and Demos: An ideal space for presenting your products to clients, partners, or media in a professional setting.
  • Consumer and Market Research: Host tasting sessions or focus groups to gather insights and feedback on your latest creations.
  • Training and Workshops: Equip your team with hands-on skills or host training sessions for chefs and food professionals.
  • Content Creation: A great backdrop for filming cooking videos, shooting promotional material, or hosting live-streamed culinary events.

Features:

  • Fully equipped kitchen with professional-grade appliances.
  • Adjoining tasting room for presentations, sampling sessions, or group events.
  • Flexible layout designed to suit a variety of needs, from intimate workshops to larger gatherings.
  • Convenient location with easy access for guests and deliveries.
AI in Health Accelerator

Who Can Benefit?

Whether you’re a food entrepreneur, a caterer, a culinary influencer, or a large corporation, our Commercial Kitchen and Tasting Room provides the perfect space to meet your goals. This space is tailored for those in food innovation, development, or marketing, offering everything you need to deliver an exceptional experience.

Book Your Space Today

To learn more about availability or to arrange a tour, contact us now. Let’s bring your culinary vision to life!

Take a look around

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Open Access Equipment

At Gastronomica, we provide open-access, state-of-the-art equipment designed to empower innovation and accelerate progress in food and beverage research. Our facilities are tailored to support a wide range of needs, from microbiological analysis to advanced product development, enabling businesses, researchers, and entrepreneurs to access professional-grade tools without the burden of upfront investment. Whether you’re looking to experiment with cutting-edge technologies or scale your operations, our pay-as-you-go model ensures flexibility and accessibility, fostering collaboration and groundbreaking discoveries.

Additional specialised equipment to support advanced food innovation is being explored with input from industry partners and site users, subject to commissioning.

Utility Room

Access to:
  • Autoclave
  • Glasswasher
  • Purified Water (Type I and Type II)
  • Ice Machine
  • Drying Oven

Microbiology Suite

Pay as you go:
  • Microbiology Safety Cabinet
  • Incubators (Shaking/Static)
  • Centrifugation Systems
  • Analytical Balances
  • pH Meter
  • Spectrophotometer
  • Microscopy

Innovation Suite

Pay as you go:
  • Imaging Systems
  • Bioreactors (Small Scale)
  • Chromatography Systems
  • Drying Systems (Freeze/Spray)
  • High-Pressure Homogeniser

The Building

  • Small to medium-sized dedicated labs

  • Demo Kitchen

  • Open Access Lab & Utility Lab

  • Meeting rooms

  • Kitchenettes, co-working & communal spaces

  • Café, restaurant & courtyard garden

The Park

  • Gardens and Parkland

  • Sports Clubs

  • Golf Course

  • 24/7 security

  • Bike storage (lockable)

  • EV Charging

In Partnership With

Unilever

Engineering Serendipity

We believe innovation thrives at the intersection of chance encounters and collaboration. By creating tailored spaces and events, we bring together diverse talents and ideas, sparking moments of creativity and progress.

Explore the future of food-tech with workshops, talks, and demos from global experts. Engage in hands-on activities and product sampling, where science meets sustainable entrepreneurship.

Location

Neighbourhood

Colworth Park – Pioneer Group
Sharnbrook
Bedford
MK44 1LQ
England

The 91-acre Parkland campus is just a few minutes from the A6, north of Bedford, on the outskirts of the village of Sharnbrook.

By Car
9 miles from Bedford
14 miles from A14
18 miles from M1
34 miles from Cambridge

By Train
Bedford to London St Pancras International – 37 minutes
Bedford to London Luton airport – 15 minutes

By Plane
30 miles from London Luton airport
60 miles from London Stansted Airport
65 miles from Birmingham airport

We can recommend local hotels with preferential rates available to BioCity based companies and Conference and Events customers. Contact us to discuss.

The Sharnbrook Hotel (1.9 Miles)

The Sharnbrook Hotel & VesuviO Restaurant & Bar is an independent, family-run hotel. It’s within a 4.5-acre plot located in the heart of the North Bedfordshire countryside, near the M1 motorway and near local amenities and the towns of Bedford, Kettering and Milton Keynes. A double starts from £90 per night with breakfast and wifi. Book here.

Woodland Manor Hotel & Restaurant (7.8 Miles)

Situated in secluded gardens in the heart of Bedfordshire, Woodland Manor Hotel & Restaurant is a picturesque venue that offers a traditional country house getaway with quick access to the A1, M1 and two miles from Bedford city centre.

The hotel has events, afternoon tea and venue hire for away days. There are 34 country house hotel rooms and suites that are individually furnished and include all the amenities you need to enjoy a restful night’s sleep. A double room starts from £81 (breakfast £19)  Take a look.

Bedford Swan Hotel (10 miles)

Set on the embankment of the Great River Ouse in Bedford, Bedfordshire, The Bedford Swan Hotel offers rooms with free Wi-fi, air conditioning and comfy bed linen. The hotel is full of character, mixing contemporary fabrics and design with the original 18th Century features. The hotel has two eateries, the British Brassiere Pen & Cob and Anna’s Tearoom.

The full English breakfast has all locally sourced produce but if you fancy something a little lighter they have granola, spiced French Toast, or Eggs Royale. Click to book.

Colworth Park is located just outside of the village Sharnbrook.

Sharnbrook is a North Bedfordshire village located 9 miles north of Bedford, just off the A6 and to the north of the River Great Ouse where it meets the brook that gives the village its name.

The village is home to a Primary school and Sharnbrook Academy, a highly rated secondary school.

Sharnbrook Primary – Read more

“We provide each child with the opportunity for growth – personal, emotional and intellectual. We aim to ensure that every child fulfils their potential and has the opportunity to excel. At Sharnbrook Primary we all work together to create an exciting and stimulating learning adventure for everyone.”

All pupils are involved in individualised learning and individual targets. Pupils who have special needs have Individual Education Plans and their own special targets to work towards; class teachers and the SENCO are involved in devising learning programmes for these pupils.

Sharnbrook Academy – Read more

“We believe that all students can achieve and we encourage them to become lifelong learners, challenging and supporting them to realise their potential. Our students regularly achieve some of the best exam results in the county and have been nationally recognised over the past five years by SSAT as achieving some of the best results in the country.

At Sharnbrook, we appreciate that there is more to school life than examination grades. Being a large school, we are privileged to have excellent facilities, a wide curriculum and extensive extracurricular opportunities for students. Sharnbrook is a school where effort, hard work and success is expected, encouraged and celebrated, and creativity is nurtured.”

The population of Sharnbrook is around 2300 people and is a desirable place to live. The village has good connections by road to the nearby towns of Bedford, Northampton and Milton Keynes. A regular commuter train service into London Kings Cross (36 mins).

Sharnbrook is well catered for shops which include a baker, Co-op supermarket, newsagent and grocer.

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