Tim Smit, the initiator of this project in St Austell, wishes to create a modern Garden of Eden. He has already realized a tropical garden in south-west England, the success of which led to the present scheme. The highlights of the Eden project, in which Smit seeks to bring a further taste of the jungle to Britain, include a visitors’ centre planned by Nicholas Grimshaw, and two huge greenhouses in which the variety of the plant world and its significance for mankind are revealed. An area of 23,000 square metres and a building with a height of up to 50 metres will be provided for the plants. Eden thus outstrips all greenhouses built to date. Nicholas Grimshaw, who, together with Anthony Hunt, created the large-span, column-free glass roof over Waterloo Station, was commissioned to develop a similar structure for Eden. The first design, reminiscent of the Waterloo scheme, was abandoned for structural and economic reasons. Initially, four climatic zones were planned, two of which – with desert and subtropical conditions – were also abandoned for cost reasons.