The Eden Project may be a world-beating visitor attraction, but as anyone who has tried to get to one of their summer concerts will know, there are few decent accommodation options nearby. Rather than a hotel or Airbnb, the best you can usually expect is a spot at a campsite or a long taxi ride somewhere else in Cornwall.
But now that could be set to change. Plans to build a luxury on-site hotel may already be under way, and it could even come with its own heated outdoor pools.
The buildings will apparently be built with materials like clay, soil and even hemp, and some of it will be 3D-printed. The pools will be warmed by heat from rocks underground.
Sir Tim Smit, the Eden Project’s co-founder, told the Oxford Farming Conference: ’It’s going to be accommodation for the greatest hot water pools in mainland Europe.’
Smit now wants to explore a second well and solar power to make the project ‘totally energy-independent’. The Eden Project has started drilling a well to explore carbon heat and geothermal power, but hasn’t started using the resources in its current operation.
Hotel specifics, like the number of rooms and prices, are yet to be announced. Watch this space.
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