December 11 2023

Detailed plans to transform a derelict Dundee gas holder into a 'Lush Bunker' have been submitted by the Eden Project.

The charity and social enterprise proposes to transform the former gasworks into an 'earthworks of the future' by drawing people to three new venues set within landscaped grounds.

The Lush Bunker joins the Valve and more prosaically titled Venue 3 within this reclaimed environment, positioned as a centre for exhibitions, art installations, performance, science and storytelling.

A project team including Fielden Clegg Bradley and Nicoll Russell Studio will deliver this garden paradise with landscape architects Gross Max, reimagining a seat of industry as a place to reconnect with nature by marking the transition from fossil fuels to renewables.

A riveted steel gasholder dating from 1972 will embody this transformation through the reuse of concrete foundations to support a new roof raised aloft by a 'structural tree'. A processional route will guide visitors from the geological history of Earth's deep past from the bowels of the structure before emerging into a dazzling garden.

This will be joined by a front door exhibition hall christened The Valve and a separate venue for the display of immersive installations and art. In a design statement, the team wrote: "Our vision for a ‘Green Machine’ will promote a radical ecology for the site and create a future landscape that reconciles nature and culture.

"The proposals will transform the existing site to a complex, high diversity and multi-layered ecosystem - from ‘Gasworks’ to ‘Earthworks’."

Interfacing with the city at Peep O'Day Lane with a new urban threshold comprising a landscaped walkway and water features linking to Broughty Ferry Road. Another key accessibility improvement will be a landscaped bridge spanning East Dock Street and the East Coast mainline to connect with the waterfront.  

4 Comments

#1 Posted by Derek Guyan-Dickémann on 11 Dec 2023 at 18:51 PM

Mmmmmm ! This cant come quick enough & its great to hear there will be an entrance via the broughty ferry road there has been steps here leading to a lane which would take you to the gasworks but it has been blocked off as long as I can remember
As it would have been an added treck to get there for myself
& others from the east of dundee

#2 Posted by D to the R on 12 Dec 2023 at 11:05 AM

A late or an early April fools ? ... Developers are struggling to make student accommodation and commercial offices stack up - Who's funding this folly - Bezoz?

#3 Posted by Everything but the Kitchen Sink on 13 Dec 2023 at 09:26 AM

This looks like a chaotic soup of a project. Less is more

#4 Posted by Lorraine on 13 Dec 2023 at 19:46 PM

I think this will be good for Dundee and bring in visitors to the city. It will also be good for educational trips from schools and nurseries, I can't wait for this to be completed.

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