Canary Wharf Riverside South
The mixed-use development of retail, restaurants, cafes and state-of-the-art flexible offices and trading floors consists of two dramatic towers of 42 and 36 storeys, separated in plan by a link building of trading floors and retail space. The two towers are placed on the site so that they create a framed window to the west, rather than terminating the view with an impermeable high-rise mass. The development is orientated east-west both to provide continuity with the existing urban pattern of Canary Wharf, while responding to the diagonal presence of the Thames to create a dynamic new development on the riverfront.
There is a conscious emphasis on verticality, slim elegance and careful composition in the design, with both towers springing directly from the riverside at ground level. The towers are similar in form but with differing heights and lengths. As a result, a varied skyline and dynamic dialogue between the towers is created, with the proportions and spacing responding carefully to one another.
Integral to the concept design is the inclusion of high quality public space at ground level. A public walk along the river’s edge will provide continuity of public access along the west of the Isle of Dogs, and a grand route through the site in an east-west direction enables public movement through the base of the building towards the river through a vibrant winter garden. This space will form part of the most extensive river front retail facility and public destination space in London.
Legibility
The discipline of the economic structural grid creates a framework, into which modular elements are inserted as expressed forms. Bright colours are used as a way of distinguishing between the various types of spaces.
Public Realm
The building provides a new and important focus for the community, creating indoor and outdoor educational and recreational spaces that all of its members can use, regardless of age.
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