Public space · High-tech
Nicholas Grimshaw · Bodelva, GB · 2001
Key featuresGeodesic biomes of ETFE cushions on hexagonal steel frames set into a clay pit.
The Eden Project (Cornish: Edenva) is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, England owned and operated by registered charity the Eden Trust. The project is located in a reclaimed china clay pit.
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.
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.
Shortened from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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