Crossrail roof garden

Crossrail roof garden

One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London

Parks and gardens

Gillespies LLP

Canary Wharf Contractors

In 2008, Foster + Partners was commissioned to design a mixed-use scheme encompassing the over-ground elements of a new station for the Crossrail project at Canary Wharf. While the station below this development would be operational only in 2018, the shops, restaurants and roof garden were opened to the public in May 2015. Since the dock was seen as an existing public open space, any new scheme that was built in its place had to include a significant open public amenity, which in this case was the rooftop garden designed by Gillespies. The client wanted to garden to create an accessible new shared and open space that would work to unite Poplar and Canary. The garden needed to be distinctive from the surrounding ground level parks seen across London.

Highly commended LI Awards 2016

Landscape practice: Gillespies, with support from Growth Industry; client: Canary Wharf Group; specialist planting consultant: Growth Industry; architect: Foster and Partners; collaborating architect: Adamson Associates; structural and M&E engineer: Arup; main contractor: Canary Wharf Contractors; landscape contractor: Blakedown Landscapes

2015

Roof Garden – 3526m2 (not including escalators at each end); Adam’s Place – 1925m2; Terraces – 536m2 and 342m2 (total – 878m2)

Value not disclosed

The space can appear deceptively simple but this has been achieved through careful and collaborative integration of architecture, engineering, and landscape. INNOVATIVE ROOF The position of the building – uniquely situated within the waters of the West India Dock - and the timber lattice roof, clearly differentiates this building from others in Canary Wharf. The ETFE air cushions, which are a highly insulating material, create a comfortable environment for all year round enjoyment, as well as a favourable microclimate allowing the use of unusual plant species. CHALLENGES The positioning of the garden above a station provided a number of challenges – shallow substrate depth, weight of planting and an overhead roof structure. We embraced these challenges by constructing the garden over a reinforced slab that acted as a wide tray containing enough lightweight soil to support mature trees and plants. To allow for root growth and drainage, footpaths had to be elevated on lightweight supporting structures. A detailed structural grid was developed to govern the positioning of the trees allowing the taller trees to benefit from the large openings in the structure. INNOVATIVE CONSTRUCTION During construction, all material – soil, plants and trees – was craned through the openings in the roof. FLOOD TERRACES The flood capacity of the dock - reduced by locating the building within the water, was kept balanced by creating a series of reservoirs stepped in planted terraces – 200m in length – that lie perpendicular to the dock edge. These terraces are staggered to encourage water circulation and absorb the displaced surface area which would have been occupied if flooding occurred.