Delayed visitor attraction set to complete in 2028
Grimshaw’s scaled back plans for an outpost of the Eden Project in Morecambe have been given the green light with construction of the £100m scheme set to start this autumn
Lancaster city council’s planning committee voted in favour of the revised seaside visitor attraction yesterday morning, four years after it signed off a larger version of the project which had originally been due to complete this year.
Project director John Pye said a main contractor for the job will be appointed this spring through the North West Construction Hub’s high value framework, with the potential for an early works package starting in the late summer before main construction starts later in the year.
Suppliers on the framework include Sir Robert McAlpine, Vinci Construction, Morgan Sindall, Kier, Bowmer & Kirkland and Preston firm Eric Wright Construction.
The Eden Project first unveiled plans for the scheme nearly eight years ago but it has been beset with numerous delays including a cost-cutting redesign in last summer which cut three out of the four glazed domes proposed in the original application.
The initial proposals, called Eden Project North, would have spanned 10,000sq m of internal floorpsace with its largest building being a 5,135sq m dome called the Rhythm Machine.
The revised plans have reduced this down to around 6,500sq m with the scheme now consisting of a single 4,000sq m dome called the Realm of the Sun and a 2,500sq m dark space called the Realm of the Moon.
Eden Project chief executive Andy Jasper said last year that the amended project had “moved from an idea into something that’s reality”, adding that the larger scheme had been merely a “concept” which had since evolved into a “developed design”.
Visitors to the attraction will journey through a series of immersive spaces exploring humanity’s connection with the natural world.
The Realm of the Sun is envisaged as a bright tropical landscape with an 18m-tall sculptural tree at its centre, while the Realm of the Moon will contain a rock pool with artificially accelerated tides. A series of outdoor landscaped gardens are set to start construction first and open to the public early next year.
Project director John Pye said the planning approval meant the scheme could now “move forward with confidence”.
The project, which is due to fully open in 2028, is being delivered in partnership with Lancaster city council, Lancashire county council, Lancaster University and is supported by UK government investment.
The project team includes WSP on planning, transport, civil and structural engineering, sustainability and MEP, Ridge on costs, Charcoal Blue on experiential engineering and TEP on landscape design.
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