The Eden Project is planning a new hotel, with the proposed site set to include swimming pools heated by underground hot rocks.
This new accommodation would be located onsite at the eco-focused visitor attraction in Bodelva, near St Austell in Cornwall.
The Eden Project’s co-founder, Tim Smit, wants to use locally-sourced, natural and recycled materials for the build, and these components would come from suppliers within a 30-mile radius.
Mr Smit shared the plans while speaking at the 77th annual Oxford Farming Conference 2023 on 5 January.
He said: “We’re going to build a hotel at Eden. It’s going to be accommodation for the greatest hot water pools in mainland Europe.”
The Eden Project is a sustainably-centred charity and social enterprise which aims to educate people about environmental concerns such as the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and pollution.
Formerly a clay pit, this vast visitor destination opened in 2001 and houses plant ecosystems in giant dome-shaped conservatories.
The Eden Project has created a well in the ground for producing low-carbon heat and electricity, using geothermal power. However, these functions are not being utilised at present.
Additionally, the charity and social enterprise is thought to be planning a second well, plus solar power installation, to provide energy independence for both the project itself and thousands of neighbouring properties.
A spokesperson for the Eden Project told Cornwall Live: “The Eden Project Hotel will be an exemplar of regenerative tourism and positive social impact, with the aim of making it climate positive – beyond net zero.”
“To achieve this, the design is being informed by emerging construction technologies that can reduce the overall carbon life cycle of the building and operations,” the statement continues.
“Additive manufacture (3D printing) is one such technology that could be harnessed.”
Plans for the Eden Project hotel originally had to be paused due to the pandemic, with development and production work set to be picked up again throughout 2023 and into 2024.
The Independent has contacted the Eden Project for comment.
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