Eden Project 'best building of past 20 years'

The Eden Project, one of Cornwall's most popular tourist attractions, is the best building to be constructed in Britain in the past 20 years, according to the British Construction Industry (BCI).

At the BCI's 20th anniversary awards this week, the giant greenhouse took the top prize, while the Channel Tunnel was named the top civil engineering project.

Chief executive Tim Smit said that the Eden Project was "humbled" to have won the award and described the variety of construction projects that have emerged across Britain over the past 20 years as a "modern renaissance".

He told the Independent: "For us it has been a privilege to have been offered the opportunity to follow our dreams and build 'Eden' and to watch the engineers, architects and landscape architects weave their genius."

A number of factors were considered by the BCI judges in making their decision, including design, client satisfaction, safety, innovation and sustainability.

The Eden Project, which opened in March 2001, boasts the largest conservatory in the world in the form of its humid tropics biome, which cultivates cocoa beans, mangoes, bamboo and a variety of other produce.