Join us on foot through Canary Wharf and explore new developments and the arrival of the Elizabeth Line, as we wander through Foster + Partners and Gillespies tropical rooftop park under its translucent polymer roof. Originally a financial centre to rival the City of London, there is now more to the Wharf than commerce. It is a socially integrated district where people work, live and play.
West India Quay’s row of converted warehouses is the sole reminder of the area’s original 18th-century hand-built walled dock. Chicago’s SOM Architects master-planned the epic 1980s Canary Wharf regeneration to accommodate financial services crowding out the City of London.
A floating pedestrian bridge, by Future Systems, links the Quay to the Wharf, while a Memphis-inspired Post-Modern hotel, designed by Philippe Starck, and a nautically-inspired riverside residence The Cascades, by CZWG, are among new heritage gems. Gensler’s Columbus Courtyard offices were the first to open and now the 75-storey Newfoundland Quay, by Horden Cherry Lee, one of the first of a new generation of residential towers inside the Canary Wharf Group boundary.
Adjacent is KPF’s Bank Street office tower and residential tower Landmark Pinnacle by Squire and Partners. Halfway along the Wharf axis route and SOM’s Chicago/Post Modern pastiche, sits the Canary Wharf Docklands station built into One Canada Square by Cesar Pelli. From there to the east end of the Wharf, Foster + Partners’ forest of glass towers predominates, with Marshall Straballa and Kohn Pederson Fox contributions.
New urban district Wood Wharf, with Floating Pavillions by Glen Howells is part of an interconnected series of bridges and boardwalks, creating new pedestrian infrastructure with two new landmark residence towers - 10 Park Drive by Stanton Williams and One Park Drive by Herzog de Meuron - signal just the start of a 23-acre new community.
This walk is led by an experienced Blue Badge Guide.
Start: West India Quay Station (DLR) on ground level
Ends: Canary Wharf Station
Duration: 2 hours approx
General Info
Organiser