An Eden Project boss has responded to critics of the new designs of a planned £100m visitor attraction in Morecambe.
New CGI images of how Eden Project Morecambe will look, show the external design looking different to previously released pictures.
Andy Jasper, CEO of the Eden Project, said that initial artist impressions were the "concept" while the new images show "exactly what we're going to be building".
The new facility on Morecambe Promenade is due to open in late 2028, with work due to start on-site in 2026, and is expected to pull huge numbers of visitors to the town.
Some Beyond Radio listeners, commenting on social media, said the drawings released on Monday looked "scaled down" compared to previously released designs - which showed two larger domes and a smaller one (below).
The new images released this week show one large dome and a flatter building next to it (below).
Mr Jasper said: "What we are presenting today is a one unified project design which still delivers absolutely everything that the project has always wanted to, in terms of the vision and these incredible spaces, these jaw-dropping wow factor spaces.
"Design development allows you to unify design and develop it in a way that you can build. What you saw very early on was a concept.
LISTEN to Andy Jasper speaking to Beyond Radio's Dave Salmon
"What you see now, is exactly what we're going to be building, a £100m project that feels incredibly inspiring.
"The interior design images really give you an impression of what the experience is going to be like."
Below, an image of inside 'The Realm of the Sun' released this week.
The actual design of Eden Project Morecambe will include a 35 metre high, 3800 square metre biome called 'The Realm of the Sun', to include a "show-stopping 20-metre theatrical sculpture" called 'The Elder Tree'.
A flatter building, shaped like a mussel and blue-coloured, will house 'The Realm of the Moon' - featuring a "hyper-real rock pool where the sped-up cycles of tides, days and seasons drive an ever-changing immersive world filled with storytelling, spectacle and discovery".
Mr Jasper said: "You'll be walking around this incredible lush tropical landscape 'The Realm of the Sun'.
"Then the other building, the one that's lower down is 'The Realm of the Moon' which is a very theatrical space giving you this sense of the rhythms of life, and the rhythms that are inspired by all the feedback that we've had by the local population, and by Morecambe Bay as well.
"The original Eden Project was very different in concept to how it is now. That's just what design development is all about.
Below, the Eden Project in Cornwall.
"The whole place is exactly the same footprint, you can't really change that."
Details about a further two Realms – a Four Seasons Garden and a Public Realm – will be unveiled in due course.
Mr Jasper said there are still plans, too, for a concert arena on the site.
"The arena is absolutely a key part of the concept and a key part of the business case, putting Morecambe on the map," said Mr Jasper.
Comments on the Beyond Radio Facebook page included that it was a "poor effort compared to down south (with a) third of the previous design", "so that's how they are saving the money...from three to one dome" and that it "looks very scaled down compared to the original drawings".
Others said the designs looked "beautiful" and "fabulous and hopefully it will generate tourism in a much needed area".
Eden Project Morecambe will be situated on the central promenade of Morecambe, on the former site of the Bubbles leisure complex.
The Eden Project is an educational charity, with a famous attraction themed on the natural world based in Cornwall.
Eden Project Morecambe is being delivered in partnership with Lancaster City Council, Lancashire County Council and Lancaster University.
More details were revealed at a Community Conversation event held at Morecambe Football Club on Monday evening. More to come.
Read more: New designs of Eden Project Morecambe revealed - Beyond Radio
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