The Architects’ Journal Architecture News & Buildings
The practice was appointed to design the Eden Project North in 2018, 17 years after the opening of the original tourist attraction in Cornwall. In 2020 Grimshaw also unveiled plans for a third, ‘Neolithic’ Eden Project in Foyle in Northern Ireland.
Next Monday (31 January) the city’s planning committee is expected to follow its officers’ recommendations and wave through the Morecambe project, which aims to attract 1 million visitors a year.
The 17,186m² scheme is earmarked for the site formerly occupied by the Bubbles leisure complex next to the listed Art Deco Midland Hotel.
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The development includes the demolition of a substation, old pump house, electricity boxes, disused public conveniences, removal of two of the existing concrete seating alcoves on the promenade side, stairs and part of the concrete amphitheatre.
According to earlier consultation information, Eden Project North’s design ‘is informed by the efficiency in which natural organisms, like mussels, structure their thin shells, where each layer of the structure performs a specialised function that allows the organism within to thrive’.
The visitor experience will revolve around the ‘the bay – a unique environment shaped by the sun and moon’, with different domes and levels reflecting the seasons, day and night, land and sea.
As well as the UK Eden Projects, Grimshaw is also working on new Eden Projects for Anglesea, in Australia, and Qingdao in China.
Other proposed Eden Projects include a scheme in Dundee, by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, as well as projects in Dorset, New Zealand, the USA, Costa Rica and Jizhou in China.
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It is understood the new Morecambe landmark could be open by 2024.
Evolution of Grimshaw's Eden Proejct North designs: early iteration (left) and latest proposal (right)
Eden Project North visitor experience concept – architect’s view
Journey into the forests of the Rhythm Machine where spring blooms in the morning, only for snow to fall by lunch; where species arrive, interact with visitors and migrate; where the forest canopy hides treehouse portals to other worlds.
At ground level, the hyper-real landscape conceals immersive adventures into nature’s most wondrous phenomena while open glades and intimate venues provide stages for performance, programming, relaxation and dining.
Enter a world ruled by the moon. In the ebb and flow between the tides, mysterious creatures from the bay come to feed, hide, sleep and thrive. As the full moon rises high in the darkening sky, meet the rising tide with bare feet, upon rafts or from the high tide line, as the onrushing bay floods the pavilion – and its dams, castles and messages in the sand – wiping clean our impacts as the cycle starts once more.
Enter the bay glade to experience an eternal spring where a lush living landscape immerses visitors in a world whose rhythms have slowed down. Discover how to realign your biological rhythm with the world around you, as you journey between the awake and the asleep.
Delving into the natural observatory will take visitors into the inner workings of the bay and understand the region (and world) as a giant interconnected system. Master the arts of becoming a great noticer as the visible and invisible wonders of the bay are revealed from upper-level panoramas.
Return through the year to discover Eden’s acclaimed evolving seasonal programming: from music, theatre, exhibits, events, and touring shows, underpinned by great food, spectacle and education.
This extract was taken from the Eden Project North consultation boards, which can be viewed here.
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