- Where is it? 2 km (1.2 mi) from the town of St Blazey and 5 km (3 mi) from the larger town of St Austell, in Cornwall, UK. The Eden Project is the third most popular charging tourist attraction in the UK with 1,000,363 visitors in 2016.
- What is it? Two giant biomes, or greenhouses, which recreate tropical and Mediterranean conditions so that plants endemic to those areas can grow. The Humid Tropics Biome contains plants such as Banana plants, Coffee, rubber and giant Bamboo, and the Mediterranean Biome has olives and grape vines. A third biome is planned featuring the Dry Tropics.
- The mission of the Eden Project is "To promote the understanding and responsible management of the vital relationship between plants, people and resources, leading towards a sustainable future for all."
- The project is located in what used to be a clay pit which was in use for over 160 years. It ran out of clay in the mid 1990s. Before the Eden Project was built there, it was the filming location for the planet surface of Magrathea in the 1981 TV series of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
- The project was conceived by Tim Smit of Lost Gardens of Heligan fame. It was designed by architect Nicholas Grimshaw and engineering firm Anthony Hunt and Associates, and the building was managed by McAlpine Joint Venture. It took two and a half years to build.
- The biomes are made of plastic, ETFE material, rather than glass. Glass was avoided because of the potential dangers and its weight (the plastic the biomes are made of is 1% the weight of glass - in fact, the two biomes weigh only slightly more than the air inside them). The material is stain resistant - most dirt simply washes off in the rain. It can get punctures, but these are easily fixed with ETFE tape.
- The Humid Tropics Biome is the largest conservatory in the world. Its height is equivalent to 11 double decker Buses and as long as 24 buses. If you prefer more conventional measurements, that's 55m (180 ft) high, 100m (328 ft) wide, and 200m (656 ft) long. The biomes consist of hundreds of hexagonal and pentagonal, inflated, plastic cells supported by steel frames. The 46,000 poles used to create the structure, if laid end to end, would stretch from St Austell to London.
- As well as the two biomes, there is also an education facility called The Core. It opened in 2005 and is designed using the principles of phyllotaxis, the mathematical basis for nearly all plant growth. It houses art installations including one permanent one called Seed, by Peter Randall-Page, a giant egg shaped sculpture based upon the geometric and mathematical principles that underlie plant growth. In the grounds are more thought provoking sculptures. There's a giant bee, a statue of Eve, made from soil, and WEEE Man, a giant statue made from old electric appliances, representing the amount of electric appliances one person gets through in their life.
- The Toilets at the Eden Project won the Best Loo in Britain award in 2003.
- If you're too far away to visit in person, since 2009 it has been possible to use Google Street View to make a virtual visit.
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