œ37m makes Eden bloom - McAlpine jv is preferred for Millennium funded St Austell biodiversity project

The proposed œ105 million Eden Project in Cornwall received a massive boost last week with the award of a œ37 million grant by the Millennium Commission.

A joint venture between Sir Robert McAlpine and Alfred McAlpine is the preferred contractor to manage the construction of the biodiversity project.

The Schal/Tarmac bid was runner up. Bids by Costain/Hochtief, Bovis, Kier and Heery International were eliminated earlier.

A spokeswoman for the Eden Project said funding was in place following the Millennium Commission grant. Private funding has been raised, though a grant application to the European Regional Development Fund still awaits a decision.

Construction work is currently scheduled to begin in January 1998 on the scheme, which will be both a tourist attraction and a scientific research institution. The project will be built on the site of an old china clay pit at Bodelva, near St Austell.

The Eden Project is essentially a massive greenhouse exhibiting plants from four different climates: rainforest, desert, mediterranean and temperate. It is the brainchild of Tim Smit, who restored the Heligan gardens in Cornwall.

Nicholas Grimshaw and Partners designed the scheme. Ove Arup & Partners is structural engineer and M&E consultant. Project manager is Davis Langdon Everest.

l Durham's Millennium City scheme was also a winner in last week's Millennium Commission handout.

A œ24 million scheme proposed by Durham City Council has been awarded œ12.5 million. The project involves the creation of a new mix of community and public schemes which will reconnect the old city "peninsula" with the rest of Durham.

Features include: a multi-use venue with a theatre and function room; a Resource Centre with rented office space for voluntary/community groups; a Centre for Life-long Learning with new library; a Millennium Square; a riverside walkway and park and a new pedestrian footbridge.