Design firm wins (pre-)historic deal

Pateley Bridge design firm Azureus Design is to help bring the Jurassic era back to life at the £80m Jurassica attraction in Dorset, which is backed by Sir David Attenborough. (S)

A Pateley Bridge design firm is to help bring the Jurassic era back to life at an £80m project backed by Sir David Attenborough.

Azureus Design will create the exhibits and environments at Jurassica, an attraction to be built in a 40m-deep Portland Stone quarry in Dorset, to celebrate the county’s Jurassic Coast UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The highpoint of “the world’s most spectacular prehistoric visitor attraction” will be the Jurassic Cove. The brainchild of Azureus Design’s creative director, David Lazenby, it will be a simulated seashore from 150 million years ago, complete with dinosaurs, towering cliffs, lagoon reef, sharks, rays and dragonflies – all under a translucent roof.

Jurassica’s CEO, Michael Hanlon, said what will make the project stand out was its scientific authenticity.

“David is simply the best person in the world at making you believe you have left our world and entered another,” he said.

“We had to have him on board. What makes Azureus Design’s work stand out – aside from their unparallelled ability to create a highly naturalistic, atmospheric environment – is its designers’ insistence on getting it right.”

The attraction, planned to open in 2021, has the backing of the Royal Society and the Natural History Museum.