A DETAILED model has been unveiled showing what the multimillion pound Jurassica Project could look like on the inside.

Jurassica, backed by Sir David Attenborough, will celebrate the geological heritage of the Jurassic Coast, with plans to open on Portland in 2021.

Images showing a fully detailed 1:100 scale model have emerged of the Jurassic Cove, a key feature of the project.

The Jurassic Cove would fit inside the 250,000 cubic metre volume of Yeoland’s Pit, the project’s chosen site.

The Cove, a name coined by the project’s exhibit designer David Lazenby, would see visitors walk through a lost world of strange plants under a translucent roof designed by architect Renzo Piano.

Mr Lazenby said the Jurassic Cove would be the largest immersive prehistoric exhibit in the world.

He said: “We will use both the fantastic natural strata and recreated rock faces to show just what a Jurassic seashore would have looked like, complete with pterosaurs perching on the rock ledges.

“The Cove will also feature a salt water lagoon, sea caves, rock stacks, arches, living corals and other ancient marine organisms.

"Think of our Jurassic cove as a really detailed museum diorama, but on a vast scale.

“Too many dinosaur exhibits lazily rely on a few palm trees and tree ferns and a vague impression of a swamp, their designers happy to depict organisms that didn’t even exist in the Mesozoic and taking a mix-and-match attitude to species that is wholly unrealistic.

“We will pick a specific period in prehistory and everything you see will be both realistic and an accurate representation of the plants and animals that were alive at that time.

Jurassica is currently at the planning, design and fundraising stage. The total cost for the project is £80m. It’s currently waiting to hear if it will receive a £16m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Michael Hanlon, Jurassica’s CEO, praised Mr Lazenby for the designs, suggesting the project would stand out for its scientific authenticity.

He said: “He’s our exhibit designer and he’s a genius and by far the world’s best designer of immersive prehistoric exhibits.

“These models show how visitors will be taken back time 150 million years.

“The reaction has been very positive. Those who have seen it have been overawed by it. There was a lot of hard work that went into it.

“It’s a thing of beauty.”

Mayor of Weymouth and Portland, Cllr Kate Wheller, said the project would be a resource for learning and research and not a theme park.

Commenting on the models, she said: “They are absolutely superb. Michael and his team have gone to the very best model makers and have used the very best designers. This is a very, very exciting quality project.”

Cllr Rachel Rogers, briefholder for tourism and culture on Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, said: “I think it looks really fantastic. I think they are amazing.

“It's a diorama, but a 21st century diorama.

“I'm really impressed by the model. It looks like something completely out of the norm, not like a museum, which is what you want.

“We want something unconventional and different.”