Eden Project

The Eden Project sits in a reclaimed china-clay pit near St Austell in Cornwall. Two vast domes rise from the bottom of the pit, each enclosing a different natural biome. The larger dome recreates a tropical rainforest with banana plants, coffee bushes and giant bamboo. The smaller one simulates a Mediterranean climate, filled with olive trees, grape vines and warm-climate shrubs. Outside, landscaped gardens display native British plants alongside species with prehistoric roots. The project was conceived by Tim Smit and Jonathan Ball and opened to the public in March 2001. It has since welcomed over a million visitors each year and contributed more than a billion pounds to the Cornish economy. The site has hosted major events, from a Live 8 concert to a G7 reception, and even featured in a James Bond film. In 2016, forty coast redwood saplings were planted, creating Europe’s second-largest redwood forest. Inside the domes, hexagonal ETFE cushions let in light while controlling heat and humidity. Paths wind past sculptures, including a giant bee and a former electrical-waste figure. The Core building, opened in 2005, houses classrooms and exhibitions shaped like plant forms. Outside, temperate gardens display lavender, hops and sunflowers, with local wildflowers among them. The whole site shows how plants and people connect across the world.