West Midlands Regional Food Academy

The West Midlands Regional Food Academy is located at the centre of the Harper Adams University College campus, near Telford, in Shropshire. With the financial assistance of Advantage West Midlands and Harper Adams, the building was constructed as a Brownfield conversion of a 1901 redundant farm building. The academy was regional winner in the ‘Regeneration’ category and was awarded ‘Project of the Year’ for the West Midlands in the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Awards.

Officially opened on 1 December 2009 by HRH The Princess Royal, the building has been designed to serve a variety of functions. The food grade lecture theatre and exhibition hall provide both teaching and conference facilities. There is an associated conference office which is used for the administration of conferences and seminars. The lecture theatre is equipped with a cinema standard projection and audio system as well as the facility to provide cookery demonstrations, etc.

The exhibition hall has a load-bearing floor, access and services to allow the installation of demonstration equipment e.g. food packaging equipment. Additionally, the building has three seminar rooms equipped with interactive whiteboard and projection systems, with Internet access.

The food technology section of the building accommodates a range of food processing facilities used to support regional food businesses as well as to teach food technology.