Green light for ‘transformational’ Eden Project in Scotland

Eden Project, an educational charity and social enterprise, has been granted permission to turn the former industrial site of Dundee Gasworks into Eden Earthworks – “a place to explore how we can learn from and reconnect with nature to achieve a regenerative future for people and planet”.

The £130 million development will combine exhibitions, performance, learning, play, immersive experiences, world-class horticulture, live music and art, as well as food, drink and retail spaces.

The organisation says it will be “a transformative project” for Dundee, drawing on its rich history and playing an important role in the regeneration of the city’s waterfront.

It’s hoped the new attraction, which will be capable of hosting up to 18,000 people a day, will bring in more than 500,000 visitors annually.

The site is located to the north of East Dock Street, overlooking the city’s quayside.

Eden Project already has a successful site in England which attracts around a million visitors each year.

The attraction, built at an abandoned clay mine in Cornwall, is billed as “the largest indoor rainforest in the world”.

An aerial view of Dundee, showing the site of Eden Project's nature-based visitor attraction – overlooking the city's docks

The charity also has plans in the pipeline for new attractions elsewhere in the UK and overseas – in China, Australia and Dubai.

How nature-themed attraction will boost Scottish city

Eden Project’s vision for Dundee will comprise three venues offering different experiences, including one housed inside the disused gas store.

The Valve will be a single-storey entrance exhibition building to the west of the site, including a café with seating areas.

here are future plans to build a new pedestrian bridge to connect the Eden Project site with the waterfront and other attractions in the city centre

The Lush Bunker will be set inside the old gas holder and will feature an exhibition space named the Seam.

Standing 36m tall at its highest point, this will be the most prominent structural element of the development.

The third venue – which is still to be named – will be built over two levels and will comprise gallery spaces, installations, exhibits and artworks.

Other proposals include an external live events space, Gathering Meadows, with capacity for up to 6,000 people.

An artist’s impression of Eden Project’s Earthworks development, to be built on a former gasworks site in Dundee’s up-and-coming waterfront area

There are additional plans to build a pedestrian bridge that will allow people to cross over the railway line to reach the waterfront area – restoring a link that was severed several years ago.

Green project will grow and blossom over time

Eden Project says its aim is to turn the old gasworks into “a factory for the future that will grow and evolve over time, expressing the regenerative power of nature as an organic green machine to support resilient living within a challenging urban context”.

The decision to consent the development comes following an intensive period of community engagement which saw the Eden Project team host events across Dundee, with comments and feedback on the proposals incorporated into the planning application.

Approval was granted in a meeting of the full council following a pre-determination hearing at the planning committee.

Blair Parkin, Eden Project’s chief experience development officer, has welcomed the decision.

The Lush Bunker will be inside the old gas storage building and will feature an exhibition space named the Seam – standing 36m tall at its highest point, this will be the most prominent structural element of the development

“This is a major milestone for the project and the culmination of years of hard work by the Eden Project team, our partners in Dundee and the community who have engaged with us so generously,” he said.

“This is a project for Dundee, by Dundee and we are incredibly proud of the work we have undertaken together to get the project to this stage.

“We will allow ourselves a moment of celebration but we are well aware there is still lots to do to make Eden Project Dundee a reality.

“We will now concentrate on progressing the design, securing investment and continuing to deliver our community programmes in the city.”

Boost for Dundee and for Scotland

Dundee City Council leader John Alexander said: “The Eden Project is a further example of the city’s ambitious regeneration drive.

“The project will help deliver hundreds of jobs, huge visitor numbers and tens of millions of pounds for the local economy.

“But it will also provide new educational opportunities and seek to build work on efforts within our communities, well beyond the site boundary.

“It will attract people from far and wide, as well as being very much for the citizens of Dundee.”

He thanked local people for their help in shaping the plans.

He added: “The planning process is only one part of a much longer journey, however.

“All partners are aware that the hard work really starts now to ensure that we make this world-class, transformative project a reality.”

Environmental remediation work has already begun at the gasworks site to prepare it for development.

It’s hoped Eden Project Dundee will open by 2030.

Full funding is still to be raised, while demolition and construction work is expected to take at least three years due to the former industrial nature of the site.

The idea to build a new train platform close to the Eden Project site has also been discussed.

It would be located on Dock Street – the former site of Dundee East railway station, which was demolished in 1964.