London Trip - Crossrail Place Roof Garden, Gillespies and Foster + Partners

Crossrail Place is a mixed-use scheme encompassing the over-ground elements of a new station, located in the north dock, adjacent to the HSBC tower at Canary Wharf. Prior to Crossrail Place Roof Garden was built, the area was the Import Dock (North Dock) of West India Docks, which had been used for shipping and commerce but fell into disuse in the 1960s and 1980s. Now public realm and commercial office spaces, entirely surrounded by the water of the West India Quay dock, the station sits 18 metres below sea level, with two levels and Crossrail Roof Garden above water. The following figure shows a cross section of the building and visualisations sketches and mid-construction images of the site. 

The elevated garden lies beneath an intricately designed ETFE lattice timber roof structure, created by Foster + Partners. 

The surved structure of the building is achieved using these materials and technique. 

The structure is formed of 1,414 laminated timber glulam beams from sustainably managed forests in Altheim, Austria which holds the 778 two-layer ETFE infrastructure film cushions - a flourine-based plastic film, lighter than glass, with great tensile strength and temperature resistance of 200 degree celcius - and 564 individually designed 3D-planned steel nodes that cover over 10,000sqm. 

The roof's semi-permeable canopy allows for natural irrigation and light to reach the garden's interior, creating a perfect microclimate for rare and sensitive plants to thrive. The following figure shows the roof structure from surrounding area.

The garden was created with human connectivity in ind and underpinned by the theme of biophilia, organised around a single walkway, with multiple smaller paths branching off. At each end of the garden, amphitheatres provide flexible spaces for theatres, events, and usage by local schools. The following figures show the amphitheatre space in use and plan view of the roof garden.

The roof gardens is a tribute to the wonders of nature and the daring spirit of exploration. Inspiration for the garden was taken from Canary Wharf's rich maritime past, centred around a metaphorical ship, laden with exotic and rare specimens from across Earth, brought to Britain by 18th century explorers, dividing the plant species into varieties that grow on the west and east hemispheres. The Western Hemisphere section (the Americas, New Zealand and Australia) features Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum), Dicksonia antartica (soft tree fern), Dicksonia fibrosa (golden tree fern), Cyathea dealbata (New Zealand fern) and Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree). Whilst the Eastern Hemisphere (Europe, Africa, Asia and Russia) includes species like Edgeworthia chrysantha (paperbush), Nandina domestica (nandina), Arum italicum (Italian arum), Acer palmatum (northern Japanese maple), Phyllostachys nigra (black bamboo), Magnolia kobus (northern Japanese magnolia), Sasa veitchii (veitch bamboo). The following figures show some of these species (and additional ones) in further detail. 

To conclude, the Crossrail Place Roof Garden is an interesting piece of landscape architecture, free to enter from sunrise up until sunset the roofgarden is a space for everyone to enjoy to take a break and explore the fantastic planting palette from across the world. Being located in London's central business district, the garden provides opportunity for those working in whats likely to be fast-pace, high-stress careers to take a break and relax. Surrounded by retail and restaurants, the location also offers a space is part of a wider mosaic of life, integrated smoothly for easy accessibility and access. 

The roof structure allows so much light in it feels airy and freeing, with so much sky to be seen - often a novelty in busy Canary Wharf. 

An interesting mix of hard materials are used to produce a hierarchy within the space of the main path and sub dominant, smaller paths which branch from this, this includes concrete, both coloured with white limestone and classic grey tones, in contrast to the warmer, caramel shades of the resin bound paving.