Indian sect plans huge plant dome at listed country house

A FAITH group affiliated to an Indian religious sect plans to build a giant plant dome in the grounds of a listed Bedfordshire country house.

The structure – which will be the UK’s largest clear-span shallow-arched dome – will host meetings for Science of the Soul, a multi-faith community and mindfulness group.

The dome will fit up to 25,000 people and sits within the grounds of the Grade 1 listed Georgian country house at Haynes Park in Bedfordshire.

Science of the Soul acquired Haynes Park 20 years ago and has held its biannual meetings in the grounds in a large purpose-built tent.

However, this became costly and time-consuming to maintain, and the group hired the Twelve Architects company to design a permanent structure to replace it.

The new structure will take the form of a shallow dome with a clear span of 162.5m, making it the largest clear span structure of its kind in the UK and within the top 30 worldwide.

The roof will be covered in sedum plants to ensure the slope of the dome blends in with the undulating landscape of the Bedfordshire Greensand Ridge.

It has also been designed to be sunken and tilted to follow the flow of the land.

Central Bedfordshire Council and Bedford borough council granted planning permission for the dome last year and construction is expected to start on the site next year.

Matt Cartwright, founding director at Twelve Architects, said: “This unique structure reflects the client’s desire to create a tranquil, calm, and pure building form that reflects them.

“The form of the new assembly hall takes inspiration from the natural characteristics of Bedfordshire’s Greensand Ridge, with the shallow dome creating a new rolling ridge silhouette within the landscape that will ‘appear’ and ‘disappear’ when viewed from different locations.”

A spokesman for Science of the Soul said: “We are very excited and pleased in obtaining planning consent for our beautiful new building.

“We believe the new building will provide a peaceful and comfortable environment for everyone who visits for generations to come.”

Science of the Soul is a sister organisation of Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

The group is based in India’s Punjab state and follows the spiritual teachings of Baba Gurinder Singh, also known as Baba Ji to his followers.