Unilever HIVE is the global Unilever foods innovation centre in Wageningen, the Netherlands. An open innovation platform that accelerates exciting commercial opportunities for cooperation in the area of sustainable food production. In its energy neutral 18,000 sqm complex visitors will discover a Pilot Plant, a Food & Customer Experience and two floors of offices and labs. Sandenburg-DST contributed significantly to the realisation of Unilever HIVE.
Together with Unilever’s transformation team and the interior designer Sandenburg-DST has worked closely for three years, producing strategy, naming and brand identity. On site Sandenburg-DST helped to realize the user end-to-end experience, the reboarding and onboarding programmes and the Food Experience Kitchens.
Sandenburg-DST advised and guided Unilever throughout the building process to make HIVE a place that is truly open to outside visitors, scientists, start-ups and food retailers, inviting them to co-create. The end result is that ascertaining Unilever’s role as a key player in Wageningen Campus’s ecosystem.
The design team of Sandenburg-DST developed the experience design and spatial design for among others the common areas, reception, food market, Unilever channel showcases, townhall and the pitch podium.
“We are now able to rapidly make prototypes in one location, for instance in the kitchen, labs or while factory testing. After that it’s off to consumer testing, innovation bootcamps and hackathons. This all leads to more rapid innovation.”
Serpil Tascioglu, Director Foods Innovation & Transformation
With its extensive reboarding and onboarding programmes all Unilever R&D employees moving to Wageningen were introduced to the building facilities and Wageningen Campus. The programmes extensively featured company culture, new ways of cooperation, the high level of ambition and the ever-increasing speed of innovations.
