Crossrail Place Roof Garden - Ten Years On

Nearly a decade after its completion, Crossrail Place Roof Garden in Canary Wharf continues to thrive - a biodiverse retreat in the heart of London that engages communities and celebrates the Docklands’ maritime heritage.

Blakedown Landscapes was appointed by Canary Wharf Contractors as main contractor to deliver this ambitious scheme, designed by Gillespies and set atop the Foster + Partners-designed Crossrail station.

From concrete formation, we constructed the garden’s intricate infrastructure - drainage, insulation, void formers, granite paving, bespoke seating, and a floating pre-cast concrete walkway - with materials craned through the timber beam roof in carefully timed operations.

The planting reflects the garden’s position on the Prime Meridian Line, with species from the eastern and western hemispheres meeting in the centre. Specialist tree ferns imported from Australia and New Zealand sit alongside plants from China and Japan, sustained by a bespoke irrigation system adapted for just one metre of soil depth.

Delivered in only 32 weeks, the project involved over 600m³ of topsoil, 70 mature trees, 100 tree ferns, and 15,000 shrubs. Since opening in 2015, the roof garden has been recognised with multiple awards, including the BALI Principal Award for Green Roof Installation and Roof Gardens.

Today, Crossrail Place Roof Garden remains a major contributor to the transformation of Canary Wharf into the bustling green space it is - unrecognisable from 25 years ago at the start of the millennium.

Archive images shown below are from completion in May 2015.

Read Pro Landscaper’s August feature on the garden’s enduring impact here.