The Eden Project - History and Facts
Built in a disused china clay quarry, the Eden Project has surpassed all hopes and expectations in its success.

The History of the Project
The original idea for the Eden Project came from Tim Smit who had been instrumental in helping to restore the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall. He wanted to show the dependence of man on plants. He needed a site that would take gigantic greenhouses, tall enough for rainforest trees and big enough to show the biodiversity in sun baked landscapes and everything in between.He found a disused china clay quarry in Cornwall. Although it met some of his criteria: it was south facing and sheltered and huge, it was far from ideal, with little level ground at the bottom for building and it was prone to flooding. Then there was the small problem of raising money.

The first architect, Cornishman Jonathan Ball, became a co-founder of the project. The second architect, Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, designed the now famous biomes with no guarantee of payment but instead had the promise that he would be designing the 'eighth wonder of the world'. The construction companies, Sir Robert and Alfred McAlpine, also worked without any promise of payment.

So far more than £100 million has been invested in the Eden Project, £50 million of which has come from the Millennium Commission—all that money we have spent gambling on the National Lottery hasn't been wasted.

Some Facts

• The Eden Project opened fully on 17th March 2001, and has been called 'The Eighth Wonder of The World'
• Since its opening it has welcomed 5 million visitors, vastly exceeding all expectations.
• It is hidden inside a 60 metre deep, 15-hectare former china clay pit which is surrounded by a dramatic horticultural landscape
• Eden is home to the two largest conservatories (known as ‘Biomes’) in the world.
• This spectacular global garden is a “Living Theatre of People and Plants” – dedicated to the appreciation and study of human dependence on plants.
• Whether through actors or art, sculpture or (of course!) stunning horticulture, visitors discover the stories of our special relationship with plants around the world.
• The larger of the Biomes is 50 metres high and big enough to house the Tower of London. Inside, the climate of the Humid Tropics is recreated with plants from tropical South America, West Africa, Malaysia and the Tropical Islands.
• The scaffold structure created during Eden’s construction holds the Guinness Book of Records accolade of the being 'the world’s largest free-standing scaffold structure'. The 46,000 poles used would have stretched end to end for 230 miles!
• The slightly smaller Biome is 35 metres high and has a warm temperate climate. Inside there are plants from the Mediterranean, South Africa and California,
• The vast outdoor Biome landscape provides a stunning display of plants that happily thrive in our own climate and other temperate climates around the world.
• The original site, no more than a sterile wasteland as recently as 1999, lead to the pioneering manufacturing of 85,000 tonnes of soil – made from a special 'recipe' devised by a joint team of Eden’s scientists and Reading University.
• The lightweight steel roof structure of the Biomes uses ETFE foil,
  (ethyletetrafluoroethylene) instead of glass. ETFE is not only strong and
  lightweight, it allows ultra violet rays to pass through.
• Annual independent Economic Impact Studies have shown that in its first two years, Eden brought an additional £300 million to the Cornish economy.
• Eden’s unprecedented popularity has led to the Project now employing several hundred full-time staff – 95% of whom come from the local area, desperately needed in an area of high unemployment.
• Planning and fundraising for Phase 4 – a new education centre, further covered areas and stunning third Biome (Dry Tropics) is now underway.

Page 2 > The Eden Project - So What Is It?

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