Gardens · South West England
The Eden Project
Also known as: Prosiect Eden, Tionscadal Éidin, Edenva
Cornish biomes housing the world's largest covered rainforest.
Andrew Tryon — CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons licence
Plan your visit
- Typical visit
- 1 h–2.5 h
- Best time of year
- Spring & summer (Apr–Sep)
- Dog-friendly
- Wheelchair accessible
About
The Eden Project is the visitor attraction in a former china clay pit near St Austell, Cornwall, opened in 2001. Its two giant geodesic biomes house the world's largest covered rainforest and a Mediterranean climate house, with a third outdoor garden of UK temperate planting. The structure — a sequence of bubble-shaped ETFE-cushion domes — has become a landmark of regenerative architecture.
Photo gallery
From the Wikipedia article
The Eden Project is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, England. The project is located in a reclaimed china clay pit. The complex is dominated by two huge enclosures consisting of adjoining domes that house thousands of plant species, and each enclosure emulates a natural biome. The biomes consist of hundreds of hexagonal and pentagonal ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) inflated cells supported by geodesic tubular steel domes. The larger of the two biomes simulates a rainforest environment (and is one of the largest indoor rainforests in the world) and the second, a Mediterranean environment. The attraction also has an outside botanical garden which is home to many plants and wildlife native to Cornwall and the UK in general; it also has many plants that provide an important and interesting backstory, for example, those with a prehistoric heritage. There are plans to build an Eden Project in the seaside town of Morecambe, Lancashire, with a focus on the marine environment.
Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.
Background
History
, from the main entrance]] The clay pit in which the project is sited was in use for over 160 years. In 1981, the pit was used by the BBC as the planet surface of Magrathea in the TV series the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. By the mid-1990s the pit was all but exhausted. The initial idea for the project dates back to 1996, with construction beginning in 1998. The work was hampered by torrential rain in the first few months of the project, and parts of the pit flooded as it sits 15 m below the water table. The rail link was never built, and car parking on the site is still funded from revenue generated from general admission ticket sales. A bus service links the site to St Austell…
Architecture
The project was conceived by Tim Smit and Jonathan Ball, and designed by Grimshaw Architects and structural engineering firm Anthony Hunt Associates (now part of Sinclair Knight Merz). Davis Langdon carried out the project management, Sir Robert McAlpine and Alfred McAlpine did the construction, MERO jointly designed and built the biome steel structures, the ETFE pillows that build the façade were realized by Vector Foiltec, and Arup was the services engineer, economic consultant, environmental engineer and transportation engineer. Land Use Consultants led the masterplan and landscape design. The project took 2½ years to construct and opened to the public on 17 March 2001.
Description
The Core is the latest addition to the site and opened in September 2005. It provides the Eden Project with an education facility, incorporating classrooms and exhibition spaces designed to help communicate Eden's central message about the relationship between people and plants. Accordingly, the building has taken its inspiration from plants, most noticeable in the form of the soaring timber roof, which gives the building its distinctive shape. Grimshaw developed the geometry of the copper-clad roof in collaboration with a sculptor, Peter Randall-Page, and Mike Purvis of structural engineers SKM Anthony Hunts. It is derived from phyllotaxis, which is the mathematical basis for nearly all…
Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Coordinates
- 50.3619, -4.7450
- District
- Cornwall
- Parish
- St. Blaise
- Postcode
- PL24 2SG
- Parliamentary constituency
- St Austell and Newquay
- Established
- 2001
- Official site
- www.thegreencenter.net
Sources
- manual: the-eden-project (manual)
- wikipedia: Eden Project (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Featured in these 7 guides
Itinerary
Cornwall: a coast-to-coast itinerary
Five days, twenty fishing villages and the country's best beaches.
Itinerary
A Cornish summer fortnight
Beaches, Eden Project, Tintagel — two weeks west of the Tamar.
Itinerary
Cornwall coast in 7 days
Land's End to Tintagel via the south and north coasts.
Itinerary
Britain's botanic gardens tour
Six great public collections from Cornwall to Edinburgh.
Itinerary
Cornwall cliffs and coves in a week
The South West Coast Path's most dramatic 100 miles.
Itinerary
Britain's best autumn colour
Where to see peak leaves in October.
Other places nearby
Loading nearby places…
Nearby
📷 4Public art & sculpture · South West England
Metal Giant
Metal Giant — a public art in england-south-west, United Kingdom.
📷 3Natural landmarks · South West England
Eden Project
Eden Project — a other in england-south-west, United Kingdom.
📷 3Public art & sculpture · South West England
Industrial Flame Plant
Industrial Flame Plant — a public art in england-south-west, United Kingdom.
📷 5National landscapes (AONB) · South West England
Eden Cloud Chamber
Eden Cloud Chamber — Public artwork (installation) by Chris Drury.
Hostels · South West England
YHA Eden Project
YHA Eden Project — a hostel in england south west. Brand: Youth Hostels Association.
📷 5Public art & sculpture · South West England
Seed
Seed — a public art in england-south-west, United Kingdom.
Other works by Nicholas Grimshaw
More gardens in this region
Flagship📷 10Gardens · South West England
Hestercombe Gardens
Hestercombe Gardens — Garden in West Monkton, Somerset, England, UK.
Flagship📷 10Gardens · South West England
Mount Edgcumbe Country Park
Mount Edgcumbe Country Park — country park in Maker-with-Rame, Cornwall, England, UK.
Flagship📷 10Gardens · South West England
Tregrehan House
Tregrehan House — country house in St Blazey Gate, Cornwall, England, UK.
Flagship📷 10Gardens · South West England
Tresco Abbey Gardens
Tresco Abbey Gardens — garden in Tresco, Isles of Scilly, UK.
Frequently asked questions
- Where is The Eden Project?
- The Eden Project is in South-West England, United Kingdom (postcode PL24 2SG), in the parish of St. Blaise.
- When was The Eden Project built?
- Built or established in 2001. Designed by Nicholas Grimshaw.
- How do I get to The Eden Project?
- Drivers can navigate to postcode PL24 2SG. It sits within the St Austell and Newquay parliamentary constituency.