A Description Of Eden Project Biomes

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Eden Project Biomes are an attraction located in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It features two large biomes that are multiple inter-linked geodesic dome structures, one in which has a Humid Tropical environment and the other having a Warm Mediterranean environment. The two biomes cover 2.2 hectares of land and encapsulate over 5,000 species of plants from two different climates. Conceived by Tim Smit, The Eden Project Biomes were completed April 2001 by the design team of Nicholas Grimshaw, Anthony Hunt Associates and Arup engineering. The Eden Project Biomes structure consists of two main parts. The first being its frame which consists of different sizes of hexagons, pentagons and triangles. The second being the layers of ethyltetraflouroethylene which form a pillow-like shape fitting in each hexagon. The Steel Frame The frame itself is constructed from two layers of tubular galvanized steel approximately 19.3 centimeters in diameter. It is very strong relative to its weight which is approximately 667 tonnes therefore it can stand freely without internal vertical supports. The first layer is made out of long strips of curved steel and then 190 triangles are formed for a truss. This provides extra stability for the biomes. Attached to that is the outer layer that forms a shell of 625 hexagons and 16 pentagons covering the trusses. The load is transferred through the structure and grounded uniformly along the sides of the dome to the base. Under the frame, there is an underground concrete wall around the perimeter of the dome for extra support called a foundation necklace. The Eden Project is a structure made up of hexagons, pentagons and triangles altogether to form a hex-tri-hex structure. This structure is what makes up th...

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... shape and then layering it with plastic to make it curve. This turned out problem free. After the main two pieces were built, we want to make two details, trusses and the bubble dome. The trusses cause a little pain because it caused our soldering gun to break, making us frantically look for another, connecting them wasn’t that hard just problematic from melting previous solder. Our biggest problem was building a bubble to insert into a hexagon. Our main idea was to melt a thin sheet of Plexiglas, but the plastic would either burn causing it to deteriorate, or do nothing because it would not get hot enough. We learned at this size the only way to make it curve nicely is by using an oven, something none of us own. This left us to not include it into our project. Overall, building the model has taught us that not everything works out, and also how to overcome barriers

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