January 26, 2009 10:40

Oasis, Pulp, Verve venue to go global

More Eden Projects are set to open abroad

Photo Gallery: Oasis
Photo: Dean Chalkley

The Eden Project, the conservation centre in Cornwall that has hosted gigs by the likes of The Verve and Pulp in the past and will host Oasis on July 14, is set to go global.

Tim Smit, chief executive of the attraction, told the Guardian that plans were in place to open more Eden Projects worldwide, with discussions about opening centres in Japan, San Francisco, Singapore and the Gulf states having already taken place.

Smit said that each centre would differ from the Cornish one, reflecting the country and climate it was in.

"They wouldn't necessarily be botanical," he said. "It might not have a lid, it's about an attitude rather than architecture."

He added that he hoped that work on at least one of the centres would begin before 2009 ends, and that he had turned down previous approaches to simply replicate the centre in the past.