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Crossrail Place Roof Garden

Celebrating Canary Wharf’s legacy in global plant exploration with a beautiful roof garden

Canary Wharf, London, UK

The Crossrail Place Roof Garden is a magnificent tribute to the wonders of nature and the daring spirit of exploration. It's a serene garden above the Canary Wharf Crossrail Station infrastructure, where visitors can immerse themselves in the beauty of Britain's famous plant exports.

A shared public space uniting two neighbourhoods

Crossrail Place Roof Garden is a landmark example of innovative landscape architecture in Canary Wharf, transforming a complex transport hub into a shared green space that connects the business district with the nearby residential neighbourhood of Poplar. Designed in collaboration with Foster + Partners, the project integrates the above-ground infrastructure elements of the new Crossrail station with a publicly accessible roof garden that celebrates biodiversity, placemaking, and urban greening.

At the heart of this vision is a striking rooftop garden, accessible via bridges from street level. Enclosed by a 300-metre timber lattice ETFE roof, partially open in the centre, the garden is bathed in natural light and rain, creating a sheltered microclimate ideal for supporting rare plants from across the world.

Overlooking Crossrail Place Roof Garden with timber-framed canopy, tropical planting, and sustainable urban landscape architecture design by London based practice, Gillespies. — Public rooftop garden in Canary Wharf showcasing innovative planting strategy and ETFE roof structure

Adams Place public realm enhancements featuring raised green planters and sculpture. The integrated landscape design enriches the urban environment in Canary Wharf.

Biodiverse rooftop garden at Crossrail Place in Canary Wharf featuring exotic planting design and timber lattice roof

A celebration of plants and place

Inspired by Canary Wharf's maritime heritage, the garden evokes the spirit of 18th-century ships importing exotic species from around the world. The garden is located on the Prime Meridian, which has inspired the division of the space into two hemispheres, each representing the Western and Eastern worlds, with plants from both regions showcased.

The innovative planting strategy takes full advantage of the innovative ETFE roof structure, which protects and nourishes the garden while ensuring year-round growth.

The garden is designed to foster wellbeing and social connection, with meandering paths, quiet corners, and open amphitheatres that support both everyday use and community and civic events.

Crossrail Place Roof Garden is a unique example of how landscape architecture can elevate infrastructure into a place of nature, culture, and respite in the heart of the city.

As well as landscape architecture services, Gillespies all provided planting advice and maintenance.