The Millennium Commission Lottery-funded project received the accolade at the Quality in Construction Awards 2006 at the London Hilton on Wednesday (March 15th), and later that week celebrated the anniversary of its opening on March 17, 2001.

Eden - a project that Davis Langdon has been heavily involved with as Project Manager and Cost Consultant since its inception - was ranked top of an auspicious list of short-listed candidates including the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, Gateshead Millennium Bridge, the RBS Headquarters and The Gherkin in London.

The award was devised to mark the 10th anniversary of the prestigious awards. When declared Project of the Decade, Eden was described as “a millennium scheme that caught the imagination of the entire UK population.”

Some 2,000 voters from the construction industry, including builders, architects and engineers, took part in the poll. The awards are recognised as one of construction’s highest accolades and organised by top industry title Construction News.

Eden’s chief executive Tim Smit attended the ceremony alongside representatives from The Millennium Commission and SWERDA - those organisations being integral to the funding of the scheme – contractor McAlpine Joint Venture, architects Grimshaw, and civil and structural engineers SKM Anthony Hunt. Tim Carter and Derek Johnson from Davis Langdon, were also joined by Alan Qualtrough, Editor-in-Chief of the Western Morning News, which has been a staunch supporter of the scheme from the beginning.

Reflecting on the award, Tim Smit said: “I wish everybody could have the opportunity just once in their lives of working with a large team, all of whom enjoy each other’s company and admire each other’s talent, and from this they build something that surpasses even their own imaginings.

“We have had such moments and feel deeply privileged to have been given that opportunity. What is even more exciting is that the team want to stay together to build one last masterpiece – our planned Dry Tropics Biome - which will redefine what collaboration really means. The best is yet to come."

This is just one of a number of awards The Eden Project has won, including most recently, Britain’s Best Modern Building, voted for in a survey by YouGov for Constructionskills, the skills council for the construction industry. In 2002 Davis Langdon won the APM ‘Project Manager of the Year’ for its work with what is widely regarded as one of the most breathtaking attractions in Britain.