Jonathan Macartney Ball, MBE (born 1947) [1] is the co-founder [2] of the Eden Project [3] in Cornwall, UK. He sits on the RIBA National Council [4]
He was awarded the MBE for 'services to architecture' in 1992 [5] and is a public speaker. [6]
He is the author of The Other Side of Eden (FootSteps Press, 2014, ISBN 978-1908867247). [1] and The Winds Call No Man Sir (FootSteps Press, 2015, ISBN 978-1-908867-29-2) [7]
There was controversy during the 2018 RIBA presidential election, when Ball was reported to police for harassment following an email sent to Ghana-born candidate Elsie Owusu; the police concluded that there was no case to answer. [8]
Early life
Born in Bude, Cornwall, 4th June 1947, and educated Bude C of E Primary School and Truro School, Ball describes himself as first and foremost a Cornishman.
Personal Life
Married in 1974 to Victoria Blood, he has two daughters, Jemima Veryan and Morwenna Victoria, and, as of December 2024, three grandchildren, Alex Ball (20), Lamorna Luckhurst (15) and Piran Ball (13)
Professional career
1965–1972 Professional Training, The Architectural Association, London
1974-2002 Principal, The Jonathan Ball Practice, Chartered Architects, Bude, Cornwall, winners of eight national and seven regional design awards between1980 and 2001, including for lifeboat stations at Rock, Clovelly and Lyme Regis; the widely acclaimed Bude Light; and the Annual Cornwall Architectural Trust 2005 Award for Design Excellence (Eden).
Member: Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
1981–1999, 2015 – 2018: Member, RIBA Council
1981 Member, British Cultural and Scientific Delegation to Romania
1982–1987 Chairman RIBA Parliamentary Affairs
1983–1985 RIBA Vice President Parliamentary Liaison
1985 Elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
1988–1991 & 1993–1995 RIBA Honorary Secretary
1991–1993 RIBA Vice President Membership (1992 Senior Vice President)
1992 Awarded MBE for Services to Architecture
1988–1995 Trustee, British Architectural Library
2015–2018 Trustee, British Architectural Trust Board:
1987, 1989, and 2007-2008 Respectively, Freeman; Liveryman; and WCCA Master Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects (WCCA), City of London Livery
The Eden Project, Bodelva, Cornwall.
Jonathan Ball is a co-founder with Tim Smit of the internationally renowned Eden Project in Cornwall, a social enterprise flagship project designed represent Britain’s contribution to the Millennium. Together they created the Eden vision, including securing the Millennium Commission’s landmark project funding, and assembling the necessary professional design and horticultural teams. They also shared equally the entrepreneurial risk in developing the concept.
Unfairly ousted by the Eden board in the late 1990s, following what the High Court subsequently described as ‘particularly unmeritorious’ conduct by the company’s lawyers, Ball’s status and contribution were fully endorsed in 2003 when, in a joint public statement, Sir Ronnie Hampel, Chairman of The Eden Trust and Ken Hill, Chairman of Eden Project Ltd, confirmed: ‘the role of Jonathan Ball as co-founder of The Eden Project has not been properly acknowledged in recent Eden Project publications and other media coverage’.
‘We would like to set the record straight,’ the statement added. ‘In particular, the Eden Project Trustees and Directors of Eden Project Ltd wish to endorse the fact that Jonathan Ball and Tim Smit are the joint co-founders of The Eden Project.’
Sir Ronnie and Mr Hill also emphasised that the ‘combination of Tim Smit’s exceptional communication skills and Heligan experience, and Jonathan Ball’s creativity, skills and professional contacts in the world of architecture, site assembly and politics, was the catalyst that turned the dream into reality’.
Their intervention, and three appearances in the Royal Courts of Justice over four years, not only enabled Ball to win his case for proper recognition of his intellectual property and legal status but also to save his name, family home, and professional reputation.
A passionate Cornishman, Ball remains to this day a fervent advocate of the Eden Project.
The Great Atlantic Way, Cornwall. (GAW)
Ball conceived the GAW as a follow-on from the ideas enshrined in Eden, and as a creative forum for social enterprise to support the economic regeneration of Cornwall's rural communities through development of the visitor economy and associated business and educational opportunities. It has continued as a focus for ideas on how to achieve advantage from high-value landscape in low prosperity areas and to achieve sustainable futures for fragile low economic areas such as Cornwall.
