A CONCRETE basement in Ebbw Vale leftover from the former steelworks site is being transformed into a garden for the 2010 National Eisteddfod.

Two architects are charged with giving the site a blooming good makeover after winning a UK-wide competition for the privilege.

Lianne Russ, from the Rhondda Valley, and Philip Henshaw from the Lleyn Peninsula in North Wales will be sprucing up the basement in time for the event, which will be based at The Works.

The 1,100 sq m basement, which is four metres deep, 18.5 metres across at its widest point and is filled with two metre high concrete pillars, will be changed into a vertical garden.

This means it will be designed so the plants all grow and climb out of the basement.

Features include green chimneys made from reclaimed steel and elevated allotments sitting atop the pillars.

Schoolchildren from the town will be able to use the seed nurseries to grow fruit and vegetables in vertical allotments.

Blaenau Gwent Council leader, Des Hillman, said: “The winning basement design is what our regeneration project at The Works is all about - bringing the best skills here to Blaenau Gwent to help transform the legacy of our industrial past.”

The basement, one of nine at The Works, was originally used for cleaning the steel roll used on-site and was enclosed with a slab of concrete.

The area is subject to an ongoing £350 million regeneration programme.