The AJ100 practice’s proposal for a regeneration site overlooking Morecambe Bay secured the backing of Lancashire City Council at planning meeting on Monday (16 February), when the sister attraction to the Eden Project in Cornwall was approved.
Located on site formerly occupied by the Bubbles leisure complex, next to the listed Art Deco-style Midland Hotel, the Morecambe Eden Project comprises three ETFE domes providing 10,000m² of floorspace.
The central structure will be a large dome named the Realm of the Sun, housing lush tropical gardens and the Elder Tree, a ‘showstopping’ 20m-high theatrical sculpture.
A second lower building next to it, the Realm of the Moon, is designed to resemble a giant mussel shell and will contain a venue called the tidal theatre, themed on the tides of Morecambe Bay. It will also feature a ‘hyper-real’ rock pool.
In between, a third structure called The Metronome will house the ticket office, toilets, restaurant and café. Two further realms are featured – a Four Seasons Garden and a Public Realm.
The original Morecambe scheme, approved in 2022, featured a 17,200m² building with four shell-like domes of varying sizes connected by a ‘dune-scape’ structure and surrounded by gardens.
However, Grimshaw and the Eden Project announced last summer that they were scaling back the size of the domes to ensure the project would be built ‘on budget and on time’. Completion is still due in 2028.
Speaking last year, Eden Project chief executive Andy Jasper said Grimshaw’s earlier consented design was a ‘concept’ and the latest iteration represented a more unified design, which ‘still delivers the “wow factor”’ of the original vision.
He continued: ‘One of the things I’m most proud of is delivering that original vision, which is taking inspiration from the bayscape and from the people at Morecambe, who really wanted to have something that was of the place and of the community.’
Asked why the redesign had to take place, Jasper said: ‘It has to be buildable; it has to be sustainable; it has to be able to be delivered on budget and on time. So the design developed into exactly what you can see today.’
Jasper said of the approval: ‘Getting the green light to begin building is an incredibly exciting milestone and a momentous one to be celebrating in our 25th anniversary year. Relationships have always been at the heart of our charity’s mission – our connections with nature, with people, with place and with the planet. The community gardens, the first phase of development, will embody this ethos from day one.’
Eden Project Morecambe director John Pye added: ‘With planning permission now secured and formal agreements currently being finalised, the project moves forward with confidence. This marks a hugely significant moment for Eden Project Morecambe and for the entire community that has travelled this journey with us.
‘Bringing the Chelsea [Flower Show] “Bring Me Sunshine” garden – a space shaped with local people – home to the Bay is the first step in transforming this remarkable site into a world‑class destination celebrating nature, wellbeing and the true spirit of Morecambe.’
Eden Project Morecambe is being developed as a partnership between Cornwall’s Eden Project, Lancaster City Council, Lancashire County Council and Lancaster University. It is due to open in 2028.
Grimshaw’s Eden North project on Morecambe’s Central Promenade (2022)