Greenhouse Innovation Facility

Twenty-four mini-greenhouses designed for controlled, side-by-side comparison of growing conditions, helping support innovative research into sustainable food production, greenhouse technologies, and crop physiology.

What you can do here

Our greenhouse facility provides controlled growing environments under natural light, enabling rigorous side-by-side comparison of experimental conditions, from testing novel coating materials and growing technologies through to crop physiology and plant productivity research.

Find out more on our blog

Greenhouse technology testing

Controlled comparison of glass coatings, glazing materials, and structural innovations under real-world growing conditions and natural light.

Crop physiology & productivity

Monitoring crop performance, light transmission, temperature, and humidity to assess how environmental conditions influence plant productivity throughout the seasons.

Controlled environment research

Side-by-side experimental designs across multiple units, enabling robust comparative data collection under consistent real-world conditions.

Sustainable food production

Research into energy efficiency, resource use, and innovations that support the resilience and sustainability of the UK greenhouse sector.

The facility

Our facility comprises 36 mini-greenhouses situated within the campus grounds, each built to enable controlled experimentation under natural light and real-world growing conditions. The side-by-side configuration allows direct comparison across treatments within the same ambient conditions, such as testing with different coating materials, growing inputs, or environmental variables

Monitoring equipment supports data collection on temperature, humidity, light transmission, and crop performance throughout the growing season. Further instrumentation details are available on request. Please contact us to discuss your specific experimental requirements.

Space availability: Some greenhouse units are currently dedicated to ongoing research projects. Please enquire for current space options and availability – we are happy to discuss bespoke experimental arrangements for external collaborators and industry partners.

Industry partnership

Greenhouse Innovation Consortium (GIC)

The Greenhouse Innovation Consortium, led by Dr Sven Batke at Edge Hill University, brings together researchers, growers, and manufacturers to address critical challenges facing the UK greenhouse industry — from energy efficiency and food security to innovative growing technologies. Our mini-greenhouse facility sits at the heart of this work, providing the controlled experimental environment for GIC trials and partner research.

For more information regarding GIC, please contact Dr Sven Batke