Crossrail Place Gardens

The Crossrail Roof Gardens isn’t something you would expect to find within the finance district of Canary Wharf. This place is hidden away and offers a place of calm and serenity amongst the chaos of the city and it a lovely place to escape too if you happen to be within the area. It has been well designed with East meets West themes with plants originating from all over the world, it pays homage to the areas the ships of the West India Dock Company visited may years ago and many of the plants found here have origins from those parts of the world. The fact that cross rail place lies in close relation to the meridian line the landscape here has been carefully considered to reflect this and the types of plants are arranged to what hemisphere they would be found in.The lattice roof structure allows plenty of natural light through and there is a single meandering pathway running through the gardens situated high up above the station. There are several benches and spots to sit around the place and is even a performance space that sometimes hosts events and film events throughout the year. At the end you can find Giant Robot which offers a great covered street food market if you’re looking to grab some drinks and food nearby.

The Crossrail Place building looks like a boat from the outside, but inside it’s a multi-level mixed-use building with a good selection of restaurants on the ground level and a rooftop garden with an exhibition space. The roof unfolds and opens to the air at the end of the building, creating a very interesting space. It is definitely one of the better rooftop gardens I’ve seen. A beautifully designed green space in the heart of bank-centric Canary Wharf.

The futuristic connecting bridge is also worth a visit!

Walked right out of Big Easy and found this lovely space. What a beautiful space in the middle of all that metal!

After watching the Fifteen Billion Pound Railway TV programme all about Crossrail, I really wanted to see the finished Crossrail Place for myself. It didn’t disappoint - with it’s very unique semi-open air geometric domed ceiling (kind of complicated to describe!) and so many varieties of plants, it makes for a great escape from the concrete, glass and steel that is Canary Wharf. There are lots of places to sit, meandering paths and even a small performance area with a piano there for anyone to play. If you’re needing a place to read or eat your lunch in the area, I can’t think of a better place to go. 

Mysterious at night, and probably nicely airy during the day, given the partially open roof. It's like a little sister to the roof garden at the Walkie Talkie. This one is long and narrow, with a bit of space for seating. You could stroll through in less than 10 minutes. It's a nice vantage point from which to see the rapidly changing Canary Wharf area.