The Eden Project
The Eden Project endeavours to recognise our country’s heritage of plant exploration while simultaneously looking to the future. Key to The Eden Project’s success is Grimshaw’s transformation of a place of relative anonymity into a truly multi-functional site with visitor experience at its core. One of the primary environmental strengths of The Eden Project is to consider what it replaces. Previously, the site was a china clay pit and was still being excavated during the design phase. The strategy of replacing an almost uninhabitable clay pit with a new natural habitat is perhaps in principle the biggest environmental success of Eden Project. Situated in a 15-hectare landscaped site, it is an excellent example of successful place-making.
The Eden Project has created its own unique culture comprising performance, educational and artistic spaces which extends far beyond the site itself. The Project currently employs around 600 permanent staff, 95% of whom were recruited locally and 75% of whom were previously unemployed. The project has four completed phases to date. The fifth phase, The Edge, has its roots in the original ambition to have a Biome that focuses on the desert regions of the world.
The Eden Project: The Biomes
The second phase of The Eden Project’s development refers to the 'biomes', a sequence of eight inter-linked geodesic transparent domes covering 2.2 hectares and encapsulating vast humid tropic and warm temperate regions.
Grimshaw’s design of the biomes is an exercise in efficiency, both of space and of material. Structurally, each dome is a hex-tri-hex space frame reliant on two layers. The efficiency of the frame relies on the components of the geometric shapes: steel tubes and joints that are light, relatively small and easily transportable. The cladding panels are triple-layered pillows of high performance ETFE foil and environmentally efficient, with maximum surface area and minimum perimeter detailing.
The biomes received 1.956 million visitors in their first year of opening. The project is now one of the top three charging attractions in the UK and the second most visited destination outside London.
Biomes Size: 23,000 sq m
Selected Awards
2001 Stirling Prize for Architecture: Runner Up
2001 AIA London/UK Chapter Excellence in Design Awards
2001 RIBA Awards
2001 British Construction Industry Awards
2001 Business Commitment to the Environment Awards
2000 Structural Steel Design Awards
