Education sites need cold storage that is reliable, safe and easy to manage across term time and holidays. UK Coldroom designs, manufactures and installs cold rooms and freezer rooms for school kitchens, college catering and university buildings. We work directly for schools and universities, or as the cold room specialist for building-services and main contractors.
Plan it first with Yutab. Yutab is our free online cold room designer. Draw your room, place the door and send the design straight to our engineers. Design your room with Yutab →
School and college kitchens
A school kitchen prepares hundreds of meals in a short window. Its cold storage has to:
- hold chilled food at 0 to +5 °C (in England, Wales and Northern Ireland chilled food must legally be kept at 8 °C or below),
- keep frozen stock at −18 °C or colder,
- recover temperature quickly after deliveries and the morning rush,
- be easy to clean and simple for kitchen staff to use.
We also plan for the holidays. A room that stands lightly loaded for weeks must still run efficiently, and a temperature alarm should reach a responsible person if the room drifts.
University buildings and research facilities
Universities often need cold rooms that are not for food at all: sample stores, research freezer rooms and controlled-temperature rooms. These need stable temperatures, good records and careful work on occupied sites. We build new rooms and refurbish existing ones with minimal disruption to the building. For regulated medicines and vaccines, see our pharmaceutical cold storage guide.
Working on education sites
- Work planned around term dates and holidays.
- Method statements and risk assessments before work starts.
- REFCOM F-Gas certified company, with records kept for every system.
- Experience as the specialist under main contractors and building-services contractors.
- Panels and doors made to order in our own workshop, so on-site time is short. See cold room design and installation.
Education projects
- University of Cambridge research centre, Swaffham Bulbeck, Cambridge. A freezer room manufactured and built on site for the university.
- Queen Mary University of London, Mile End. Refurbishment of three university cold rooms, delivered with building-services contractor BTU.
- The Elms Academy, Clapham, London. New cold room and freezer room for a school kitchen.
- Yesodey Hatorah Schools, Stamford Hill, London. Refrigeration repairs for school kitchens.
See more on our projects page.
See the University of Cambridge research centre freezer room project, our cold room design and installation service and our maintenance contracts.
Maintenance and repairs
Planned maintenance keeps kitchen cold rooms compliant and avoids losing a full delivery of food. A cold room repair and maintenance can be timed for the start of each term. We also provide cold room repair and freezer room repair and maintenance. For refrigerant leak checks and records, read our F-Gas regulations guide.
Design your cold room online with Yutab
Yutab is the UK Coldroom online cold room designer. It is free to use and takes no payment.
- Draw your room: enter the length, width and height and position the door.
- Save it: register with your name, email and mobile number, and verify your email.
- Download a PDF design sheet with your drawing and its revision number. Useful for a bursar’s or estates team’s approval.
- Send the design to our engineers. We review it and contact you about a site survey and quotation.
Frequently asked questions
Can you replace an old cold room during the school holidays?
Yes. We survey before the holiday, make the panels and doors in our workshop, and install while the kitchen is closed.
Do you work with our main contractor?
Yes. We often work as the cold room specialist under a building-services or main contractor.
Can you build a freezer room for research samples?
Yes. We have built a research freezer room for a University of Cambridge research centre. Tell us the temperature, stability and monitoring you need.
Planning a cold room for your school or university? Request a site survey or quotation or call free on 0800 772 0333.