Eden Project signs deal for Dundee site
The Eden Project has signed a memorandum of understanding with the owners of its preferred site for a planned Eden Project Dundee attraction.
The proposed site – the former Dundee Gasworks – is located close to the Dundee waterfront on the bank of the River Tay and is less than a mile away from V&A Dundee and the city's main train station.
The agreement between Eden Project and the site's owners, National Grid and SGN, follows the completion of a six-month “pollination” process to establish feasibility for the creation of a new international-scale site.
The feasibility study was completed with the support of Eden’s partners, Dundee City Council, University of Dundee and The Northwood Charitable Trust.
The study defined the themes and approaches of Eden Project Dundee.
One of the suggestions arising from the study was to use the existing tall brick walls on the site to create walled gardens, making for a striking contrast to the industrial heritage of the gasworks.
Eden envisages this as a "powerful symbol of regeneration", echoing the project’s home in Cornwall which is located in a former clay quarry.
The signing of the MoU now signals the start of the next stage of development – a period in which the partners will explore the practicalities of converting the former gasworks into the Eden Project’s home in Scotland.
The plan is for Eden Project Dundee to draw on the history of the city’s Nine Incorporated Trades and for the attraction to be themed around nine new “Guilds” – of Healers, Growers, Navigators, Myth-Makers, Noticers, Alchemists, Celebrators, Menders and “Re-Sourcerors”.
Each Guild will have its Guild Hall on the main Eden Project Dundee site.
The Guild Halls will form the central experience spaces for Eden Project Dundee visitors and will include areas such as the Lookout, which celebrates connections between people and the natural world; the Lush Bunker, a high-tech zone showcasing new ways to grow plants and featuring hyper-real journeys into the air, soil and water; and the Seam, a collection of emotional, story-driven experiences related to mining and its alternatives.
Eden predicts that the project will create 200 jobs (with an additional 300 indirectly created) and contribute £27m per year to the regional economy.
According to David Harland, Eden Project International CEO, Building Eden Project Dundee in the preferred location would also provide an eastern anchor for the Dundee Waterfront regeneration project.
"The former Dundee Gasworks site is by far the best location for our Scottish home and we’re delighted to have a formal agreement in place to start working on a detailed plan," Harland said.
“The feasibility study was like nothing we’ve ever worked on before, coming as it did during lockdown.
"Against all the odds, the hard work and dedication of our partners in Dundee shone through – even when we could only talk to them through a computer screen, their passion for the project, their city and country was palpable.
"Alongside the generous engagement of local businesses and community groups, this has come together, such that we now have a project with genuine air under its wings.”
Eden Project Dundee is one of a "sisterhood" of UK projects Eden Project International is developing.
Plans are well advanced for Morecambe (Eden Project North), and others proposed in Derry/Londonderry and Portland.
Eden’s global portfolio of projects includes developments in China, Australia, New Zealand and Costa Rica.
The original Eden Project, located near St Austell in Cornwall, opened in March 2001 and boasts the world-famous geodesic Biomes, one of which houses the world’s biggest undercover rainforest.
Eden has welcomed more than 22 million visitors since opening its first site and has generated more than £2bn for the regional economy in Cornwall.
Eden Project Dundee£67m Eden Project attraction to open in Northern Ireland
Eden Project targets 2020 start on geothermal energy project
FEATURE: People profile – Sir Tim Smit


Mather & Co-designed Gretna Green Experience opens to the public

Project to save last major bellfoundry which cast bells for St Paul's and Washington National Cathedral

Perkins & Will reveals designs for net-zero sports and cultural centre in Toronto

World’s first living waterslides announced for Therme Manchester

Heatherwick reveals Volcano-inspired opera house designs for Hainan

Natural history museum planned for Abu Dhabi

Controversial London music venue, MSG Sphere, gets full planning permission

Clifford's Tower opens to the public after £5m redevelopment

Clifford's Tower opens to the public after £5m redevelopment

Glasgow's iconic Burrell Collection reopens after five-year, £68.5m revamp

SB Architects delivers Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Costa Rica with tree-house spa and private residences

Ole Scheeren designs vertical jungle resort complex in China

Designer Brian d’Souza launches Swell to create evocative soundscapes for physical environments

Basalt Architects create geothermal Forest Lagoon in the wilds of Iceland

Hot Pickle design £73m Guinness visitor attraction for Diageo in London

Amsterdam's new digital art centre Fabrique des Lumières will use tech to bring art alive

Pharrell Williams to launch tropical Bahamian beach resort

Banyan Tree curating solar-powered wellness retreat on private Mozambican island

Dubai Expo hits 10 million visits

Foster + Partners designs Dorchester Collection's first hotel in Middle East

Neil Jacobs reveals Six Senses Places concept for major cities

Orient Express returns to Italy after 46 years with six trains designed by Dimorestudio and new Rome hotel

400-year-old mineral spring will power Preidlhof’s €2m medicinal bath experience

Universal Beijing Resort reveals expansion plans for second phase

Pop-up stadium built with shipping containers opens ahead of 2022 World Cup

Playfulness will inspire Serenbe’s new wellness community, Spela

John McAslan + Partners-designed M7 cultural hub and museum opens in Doha

LPO Architects and GrecoDeco create vast subterranean wellness retreat for Oslo

Herzog and de Meuron’s M+ museum of visual culture distils essence of Hong Kong

Ennismore takes its lifestyle hotel brand Tribe to South East Asia
From parks designed to mitigate the effects of flooding to warming huts for one of the world’s coldest cities, these projects have been designed for increasingly extreme climates