Everything about The Eden Project totally explained
The
Eden Project is a large-scale
environmental complex in
Cornwall,
UK. The project is located in a reclaimed
china clay pit, located from the town of
St Blazey and from the larger town of
St Austell.
The complex comprises a number of domes that house
plant species from around the world, with each emulating a natural
biome. The domes are made out of hundreds of hexagons plus a few pentagons that interconnect the whole construction together; each of these is a transparent cushion made of tough plastic. The first dome emulates a
tropical environment, the second a warm temperate,
Mediterranean environment.
The project was conceived by
Tim Smit and designed by the architect
Nicholas Grimshaw and engineering firm Anthony Hunt and Associates (now part of
Sinclair Knight Merz), with
Davis Langdon carrying out the project management,
Sir Robert McAlpine and
Alfred McAlpine undertaking the construction and
MERO to design and build the biomes. The project took 2½ years to construct and opened to the public on
17 March 2001.
Site
Layout
The project is constructed in a disused
china clay pit. Once into the attraction, there's a meandering path with views of the two biomes, planted landscapes, including vegetable gardens, and
sculptures that include a giant
bee and towering
robot called RSA WEEE Man created from old electrical appliances.
Biomes
At the bottom of the pit are two covered biomes:
- The Humid Tropics Biome, which is the largest greenhouse in the world, covers and measures high, wide and long. It is used for tropical plants, such as fruiting banana trees, coffee, rubber and giant bamboo, and is kept at a tropical temperature.
- The Warm Temperate Biome covers and measures high, wide and long. It houses familiar warm temperate and arid plants such as olives and grape vines and various pieces of sculpture. The Outdoor Biome represents the temperate regions of the world with plants such as tea, lavender, hops and hemp.
The biomes are constructed from a tubular steel space-frame (hex-tri-hex) with mostly hexagonal external cladding panels made from the thermoplastic
ETFE. At the outset, glass was proscribed due to its weight and potential dangers. The cladding panels themselves are created from several layers of thin
UV-transparent ETFE
film, which are sealed around their perimeter and inflated to create a large cushion. The resulting cushion acts like a thermal blanket to the structure. The ETFE material is resistant to most stains, which simply wash off in the rain. If required, cleaning can be performed by
abseilers. Although the ETFE is susceptible to punctures, these can be easily fixed with ETFE tape. The structure is completely self-supporting, with no internal supports, and takes the form of a
geodesic structure. The panels vary in size up to across, with the largest at the top of the structure.
The ETFE technology was supplied and installed by
Vector Foiltec who are also responsible for ongoing maintenance of the cladding. The steel spaceframe and cladding package (with Vector Foiltec as ETFE subcontractor) was designed, supplied and installed by
MERO (UK) PLC, who also jointly developed the overall scheme geometry with the architect,
Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners.
The computer controlled environmental control system that regulates the heat and humidity within each biome is designed and installed by
HortiMaX Ltd.
who are also responsible for ongoing maintenance of the environmental control and monitoring systems.
The entire build project was managed by McAlpine Joint Venture.
The Core
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 noticeably 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 plant growth; the "opposing spirals" found in many plants such as the seeds in a sunflower's head, pine cones and pineapples. The copper was obtained from traceable sources, and the Eden Project is working with
Rio Tinto to explore the possibility of encouraging further traceable supply routes for metals, which would enable users to avoid metals mined unethically. The services and acoustic design was carried out by
Buro Happold.
Environmental aspects
The domes provide diverse growing conditions with many plants on display.
The Eden Project includes
environmental education focusing on the interdependence of plants and people; plants are labelled with their
medicinal uses. The massive amounts of water required to create the humid conditions of the Tropical Biome, as well as to serve the toilet facilities, are all sanitized rain water that would otherwise collect at the bottom of the quarry. In fact the only mains water used is for hand washing and for cooking. The complex also uses Green Tariff Electricity — the energy comes from one of the many
wind turbines in Cornwall, which were amongst the first in
Europe. Somewhat controversially one of the companies the Eden Project currently has a partnership with the British mining company
Rio Tinto Group. Rio Tinto is set to commence mining in
Madagascar for
titanium dioxide. This will involve the removal of a large section of coastal forest, with the possibility of extensive damage to the unique biodiversity of the Madagascan flora and fauna.
History
The first part of the Eden Project, the visitor centre, was opened to the public in May 2000, however the full site was opened on 17 March 2001.
The Eden Project hosted the
"Africa Calling" concert of the
Live 8 concert series on
2 July 2005. It was also used as a filming location for the 2002
James Bond film,
Die Another Day. It also provided some plants for the
British Museum's Africa garden.
In 2005 the Eden Project launched "A Time Of Gifts" for during the winter months, November to February. This features an ice rink covering the lake, with a small café/bar attached, as well as a Christmas market. Adding to atmosphere Cornish choirs regularly perform in the biomes.
In 2006 and 2007, the Eden Project hosted a series of musical performances, called the 'Eden Sessions'. Artists have included
Amy Winehouse,
James Morrison,
Muse,
Lily Allen,
Snow Patrol and
The Magic Numbers.
On
December 6 2007 the Eden project invited people all over Cornwall to attempt to break the
world record for the biggest ever
pub quiz as part of its campaign to bring £50 million of
lottery funds to Cornwall.
The Eden Project was also featured in the TV show
Cybernet in 2002.
Criticism of Eden Project
In 2007 there was some criticism of the Eden Project in the Cornish press expressing concerns over the amount of funding the project received, £130m from various publicly funded sources,
saying the project should be more self supporting.
Also the Eden's carbon footprint has been criticised for drawing over one million fossil-fuelled visitors a year to Cornwall mostly by car or plane and for staging rock concerts resulting in gridlock in the
St Austell area. Concern has been expressed in local papers that the project has been orchestrated by a clique within the London establishment to secure funds for their project.
In December 2007 the Eden Project failed in its bid for £50m of funding following the
Big Lottery Fund popular vote,
when it received just 12.07% of the votes, the lowest for the four projects being considered.
In literature
Richard Mabey: Fencing Paradise: Exploring the Gardens of Eden London 2005: Eden Project. ISBN 1-903919-31-2
Hugh Pearman, Andrew Whalley: The Architecture of Eden. With a foreword by Sir Nicholas Grimshaw. London 2003: Eden Project Books. ISBN 1-903919-15-0
Tim Smit: Eden. London 2001: Bantam Press.
Eden Team (Ed.): Eden Project: The Guide 2005/6. St Austell 2005: Eden Books.
Paul Spooner: The Revenge of the Green Planet: The Eden Project Book of Amazing Facts About Plants. St Austell 2003: Eden Books.
Philip McMillan Browse, Louise Frost, Alistair Griffiths: Plants of Eden (Eden Project). London 2001: Alison Hodge.
In the media
Robin Kewell (Ed.): Eden. The inside story. St Austell n.d.: The Eden Project. (DVD)
Alan Titchmarsh: The Eden Project. w/o location 2006. (DVD) Further Information
Get more info on 'Eden Project'.
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