Education Centre: The Core
Bodelva, Cornwall, UK
Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners

Nature inspires spiral-shaped plan

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	Click here for slide show. Photo © Adam Parker

The Eden Project, the largest plant enclosure in the world, serves as one of the most innovative and high profile of the U.K.'s Millennium projects, funded with money from the national lottery. The Education Centre, known as The Core, represents the first part of the fourth phase of development of the Eden project and serves as a showcase for building in an environmentally responsible and sustainable manner. Nature and art heavily influenced its form.

During the evolution of the design, architect Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners collaborated with sculptor Peter Randall-Page. Rather than starting with any preconceived ideas about how art should be integrated with the building, the architects decided that Randall-Page would be engaged as a consultant with no specific output required. What emerged was a design that expresses an appreciation of the universal rhythms found in many natural forms. This included phyllotaxis, also known as the Fibonacci sequence or "nature's numbers," the mathematical basis for nearly all plant growth that inspired the building's spiral-shaped plan.

The roof structure, with its spiky triangular-shaped skylights, recalls the swirling arrangement of scales on a pinecone. The designers expressed this naturally occurring rhythm in the form of a tightly packed timber structure that slopes down into the heart of the building. There, at the core, Randall-Page created a massive granite sculpture, resembling a pinecone, which represents the latent energy found in seeds. The Education Resource Centre revolves around this remarkable piece of work, which was designed and realized specifically for its location.

Formal name of project:
Education Centre: The Core

Location:
Bodelva, Cornwall, UK

Gross square footage:
33,982 sq. ft.

Total Construction Cost:
$17.1 million

Owner:
Eden Project Ltd.

Architect:
Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners
1 Conway Street
Fitzroy Square
London W1T 6LR, UK
44-207-291-4141 tel.
44-207-291-4194 fax
www.grimshaw-architects.com

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