Eden Project is located in a Kaolinite pit, 2km from the town of St. Blazey and 5 km from the larger town of St Austell, Cornwall, United Kingdom. Dubbed like the “Eighth wonder of the World”, the area is a dramatic global garden housed in tropical biomes nestles in a crater of 30 football pitches size.
The attraction includes the world’s largest greenhouse and is considered one of the UK’s top Landmark Millennium projects created to tell the fascinating story of man’s relationships with plants.
It is a non-profit making charitable scientific organization for the 21st century with a commitment to communicate with the public through entertainment, education and involvement.
This Living Theatre of Plants and People is a vibrant reminder of our place in nature and is a living demonstration of regeneration.
The team transformed a clay pit into a stunning lost world reminding us that if we propose something we can do it. A number of domes house plant species from around the world, each of one emulating a natural biome.
Three domes are made out of hundreds of hexagons plus a few pentagons that interconnect the whole construction together. The first dome emulates a tropical environment, the second a warm temperate and finally the third emulates a Mediterranean environment.
Tim Smith conceived the project, the architect Nicholas Grimshaw who was designed it and the engineering firm Anthony Hunt and Associate 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 around 2½ years to construct and opened to the public on 17 March 2001.
In the Rainforest Biome you can experience the sights, smells and sheer scale of the rainforest in the world's largest greenhouse. Discover the tropical plants found in the products you use every day and understand the ways in which they are being managed for a positive future.
In the Mediterranean Biome you can travel to South Africa and California and walk amongst orange and lemon trees, old olive groves and gnarled vines. Investigate the cork popping present and glimpse a future of naturally coloured cottons and new tastes and ideas.
In the Roofless Biome - 30 acres outdoors - the crescent shaped terraces tell the story of plants that have changed the world and which could change your future. Hemp and sunflowers are growing here under the warm Cornish sun.
Eden is a place with serious ambitions - a symbol of the strength of people working with nature to repair damaged places and to make our environment rich and healthy. Non doubt a gateway into the relationships between plants and people, and a fascinating insight into the story of mankind’s dependence on plant life.
Eden is fast becoming a unique resource for education and knowledge towards a sustainable future.