According to the BCC director, “GOe is a reality that is becoming more and more tangible and tangible.” Thus, he anticipates that the new center will open its doors in October “with activities related to specialized training, gastronomic research and innovation, support programs for entrepreneurs and a wide program of activities for citizens”.

Aizega points out that the construction plan is being carried out “strictly” and that the works are going “within the deadline”. In addition, GOe has defined EAE as a “strategic project”: it will have eight kitchens, ten laboratories, a sensory analysis room, a creative space, a studio for audiovisual production, two coworking spaces of a thousand square meters, spaces for companies, classrooms and kitchens, multipurpose rooms, an auditorium with capacity for more than 200 people, a restaurant for experimentation and testing and a canteen.

According to the director, BCC and institutions are working on the inauguration of this center, which will be developed in three phases. One phase will be focused on the neighborhood and the city, the second institutional and the third social, for the gastronomic community.

The Final Works

Once the structure of the building is finished, the works will now be carried out inside the building, closing the installations, divisions and finishes, and on the outside, covering and façade with garden.

The building has been designed by the studio Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and manufactured by Construcciones Amenabar. GOe-Gastronomy Open Ecosystem is a project led by BCC, with a shared strategy and supported by the Department of Food, Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries of the Basque Government, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and the City Council of San Sebastián.

Since it was discovered that the project was planned to be carried out in Manteo, there have been many citizens who have tried to raise their voices against the project, since the city agents criticized that the construction of the building on the site meant the “destruction” of the green space that was there. In this report by Palabra de Irutxulo in 2023, you can read the details of the project, as well as the opinions for and against it.