Canary Wharf Estate Greening Phase One, Tower Hamlets, London – Canary Wharf Group with Gillespies

Gillespies was chosen by Canary Wharf Group to establish a landscape framework for a programme of landscaping improvements across the Estate to promote biodiversity, boost wellbeing, and create enlivened areas for all to enjoy.

Where is the project located?
Canary Wharf Estate, 1 Canada Square, London E14 5AB
 
Who is the developer/client of the project?
Canary Wharf Group

 
Describe the context of this project and its neighbourhood and people?

Once a derelict docklands in London’s zone 2, Canary Wharf is now one of the most prominent commercial and residential districts in Europe, home to the global headquarters of some of the world’s largest companies, as well as being one of London’s most renowned destinations for shopping and leisure. The 128-acre Canary Wharf Estate, created and managed by Canary Wharf Group, welcomes around 49 million people each year, with around 120,000 daily workers. 

Although largely considered a cluster of skyscrapers, around 20 acres of Canary Wharf is actually designated as public space, comprising parks, planted gardens, squares, waterfront promenades and urban corridors, constructed and maintained by Canary Wharf Group.

As part of their commitment to providing revitalising spaces that allow people to reconnect with nature, Canary Wharf Group appointed Gillespies in 2021 to deliver a landscape framework for a large programme of landscaping works to enhance biodiversity, improve wellbeing and create enlivened spaces for all to enjoy across the Estate.

Our Landscape Framework identified ten key priority areas across the Estate where simple yet effective ’quick-win’ landscaping projects could be immediately implemented to significantly improve the environment and happiness and comfort of Estate users. These include enhancements to 10 Upper Bank Street, Adams Plaza, Jubilee Plaza, Montgomery Square, Reuters Plaza, Cubit Steps, Wrens Landing, Bank Street Parklet, 10 Cabot Square and 20 Canada Square.

The green installations will activate currently under-utilised areas, delivering a series of peaceful and therapeutic environments where visitors can distress, unwind and connect with nature.

 
Tell us what you did and how the project, event or installation enlivened the place in a creative way?

Gillespies is working with green wall specialists Biotecture and landscape contractors Willerby Landscapes to install a range of green infrastructure solutions across the Estate. These include green walls, planters, bird boxes and living pillars. 

For each area, Gillespies established a vision and toolkit of modular furniture, planters and green walls based on the site’s location, character, climate, and usage. The vertical greening is formed using Biotecture’s ’PlantBox’, a pioneering stackable, modular living wall system that delivers immediate impact and boosts biodiversity.

Manufactured in UK from 100% recycled materials, the system is loadbearing and only requires restraint fixings, which means there was no requirement for structural approval, resulting in a quick installation. PlantBox can be extended, reconfigured or moved to allow future flexibility.

Planting has been designed to establish a vibrant, natural feel while maximising ecological benefit. Plant species have been selected to ensure seasonal and visual interest through form, colour, movement and texture. The palette has been shaped by specific conditions to create a distinct character and establish plant communities that are biodiverse, robust and well-suited to their environment.

The team have already installed a 50m of green wall at 10 Bank Street, intimate parklets at Adams Plaza and Bank Street, a green gateway at One Canada Square, a terraced garden with timber amphitheatre seating at Cubit Steps and Wrens Landing, and bird boxes and living pillars dotted around the Estate.

The green infrastructure will enhance the local character and distinctiveness of the Estate, establishing a more comfortable, human-scaled environment.

 
Please share any data or figures that support your entry, for example increased footfall, happiness surveys, event attendance and/or observed changes in behaviour. 

The overarching objective for the project was to boost biodiversity and create healthy and inclusive spaces where everyone feels happy and comfortable. Since the installation of the green infrastructure in September 2021, the success of the activation has been overwhelmingly obvious, and the feedback from the community has been very positive. Here is a selection of some social media posts:@loren_brand_london

These lamposts and the other trees and plants added recently make a real difference. Beautiful! It’s always a pleasure to be in Canary Wharf and even more so now.

@kaursonfleek

This is too good!!😍😍 Have always appreciated these small developments that make CW a better place!!🙂

@lowelevel

To see a growing amount of flora and fauna intermingle with the towers at the Wharf is wonderful. It’s not just about the biodiversity, and helping our lung health, such planting really does bring positivity. Nature is so good for our mental health 🍃

Other visible signs of the success of the activation are:

• Increased footfall

• More places for people to sit and enjoy the fresh air on sunny days

• More attractive, enlivened, and healthier spaces

• Increased numbers and varieties of birds across the Estate

• Improved biodiversity across the Estate through the planting of over 80 new plant species

• Improved aesthetics across the Estate

Canary Wharf Group has yet to undertake any happiness surveys or air quality tests but have observed that the new green locations are being used and enjoyed by people daily.
 
Did the project make a positive social and environmental contribution? Please provide any evidence or data to support this. 

The Landscape Framework has been guided by Canary Wharf’s Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), a plan that will ensure the creation of safe and healthy ecosystems and amenities that promote pleasant and liveable public spaces. The BAP has three objectives: 

•Embed the biodiversity ‘net gain’ principles within management and planning decision-making across the Estate

•Develop and apply actions for climate change resilience

•Improve ecosystem service value and in particular health, well-being and productivity of Estate users.

These objectives have informed the design of the Landscape Framework. The project delivers the following social and environmental contributions:

•Improved air quality across the Estate - plants absorb harmful gases and intercept suspended particulate matters.

•Improved aesthetics - the planting creates a more attractive, comfortable, and human-scaled environment

•Reconnects people with nature

•Improved health and well-being - the installations will have an uplifting and calming effect on people whilst having a positive impact on mental health-related illnesses

•More opportunities to sit and relax, resulting in increased interaction and productivity.

•Improved biodiversity - Around 80 different species of plants have been incorporated, including 21 species from the RHS ‘plants for pollinators’ guide, to boost biodiversity.

•Water management – planting will absorb excess storm water

•Ecological value: 48 new trees planted across the estate, comprising 9 different species selected for their resilience to drought and climate change.

•81 new bird boxes installed

•Biodiversity Net Gain has not yet been calculated but we can safely say proposals will result in BNG as the current spaces are hard surfaces.