Dining in orbit

London, 2026: For four public nights in November 2026, Bompas & Parr transforms the 14th floor of Space House into The Gastrolabe, a new dining experience built around one table in constant motion.

Book Tuesday Preview tickets here.
Book Friday - Sunday tickets here.

Formed from three revolving sections, the table carries 51 guests, their food and place settings through the room over the course of a two-hour dinner. As positions shift, familiar company moves away, new faces come into view and the 360-degree panorama of London changes around the table. A fixed seating plan becomes a moving social encounter.

Taking its name from the astrolabe, an instrument once used to chart the heavens, the experience draws together astronomy, music, physics, planetary science, material innovation and gastronomy. Its research moves between Johannes Kepler’s Mysterium Cosmographicum, ideas around the harmony of the spheres and theories of dynamic symmetry, exploring how humans have historically used science, geometry and ritual to understand their place within the cosmos.

Space House provides an apt setting. Designed by Richard Seifert & Partners and completed between 1964 and 1968, the Grade II listed landmark was home to the Civil Aviation Authority for more than four decades. From its cylindrical tower, guests look out across a 360-degree view of the capital, with the London Eye, Houses of Parliament and St Paul’s visible as evening falls.

Across the public programme, each evening takes on a different orbit. First Night, First Look opens the experience; Offline Orbit creates encounters without profiles, filters or algorithms; Harmony in Orbit explores music, movement and celestial geometry; and Astrology in Orbit closes the public run with planetary symbolism, celestial ritual and an astrological turn for the drinks menu.

At its heart, The Gastrolabe is an experiment in conviviality. Rather than determining who you spend an evening beside, the table continually reorganises the social landscape, using movement to generate new meetings, conversations and perspectives.