A green oasis has been unveiled in the heart of London’s Canary Wharf: Eden Dock is a buoyant new public space where floating, interconnected pontoons and aquatic islands create opportunities for people to connect with nature in the city. Eden Dock was designed by architectural studio Howells with landscape design by HTA Design. Championing biodiversity, the project for Canary Wharf Group (owner and developer) is in partnership with celebrated educational charity the Eden Project (Canary Wharf is now Eden’s London-based home).
It is projected that by 2050, 70 percent of people will live in urban areas — access to high-quality, biodiverse public spaces will be essential for a good quality of life. A report by the WWF in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London stresses: “Today we face the double, interlinked emergencies of human-induced climate change and the loss of biodiversity, threatening the well-being of current and future generations” (WWF, 2022). Tackling the loss of biodiversity will require cities to become a key part of the solution.
Canary Wharf Group describes Eden Dock as “a blueprint for biodiversity and habitat gain for cities around the world.” The delivery of this initiative in partnership with the Eden Project aims to enhance biodiversity in an especially built-up part of London. Moreover, the new facility will seek to improve the well-being of people working and living in and around the area.
Eden Dock is a part of Canary Wharf’s continued evolution. Canary Wharf is a major UK financial center on the historic West India Docks in East London. (The location was used during World War II as a storage area for agricultural imports from the Canary Islands, hence the name.) The newly created contemporary green oasis has been carefully inserted into the Grade I Listed, 19th century dock. Eden Dock is designed to enrich the ecology and biodiversity of Canary Wharf’s open water spaces.
“The transformed dock brings the public realm down to water level for the first time,” explains Howells. “We introduced ‘shores’ of gradual inclines — timber bleacher seating integrated with generous amphitheater steps, walkways, and dense garden planting.”
The new public realm opens up a place that was once inaccessible and inactive, welcoming people to a space that mixes recreational, cultural, and educational activities. The amphitheater steps lead visitors to the water’s edge and to an open water swimming area (quite unique in London).
A number of “floating ecology islands” are linked by pontoons and boardwalks. These islands are planted with native species, including perennials, shrubs, and trees that provide valuable habitats for invertebrates, amphibians, fish, and waterfowl. The islands are porous, allowing plants to feed on nutrients from the dock water. Beneath the islands, fish refuges offer a safe spawning ground, while bird boxes in the trees provide nesting sites.
A cantilevered shelf below the water level supports aquatic planting and a marine monitoring system, with underwater cameras, tracks biodiversity.
Eden Dock is the latest initiate in a comprehensive placemaking master plan for Canary Wharf that aims to bring a biodiverse and people-centered approach to the public realm.
“A pedestrian footbridge across Eden Dock — due for completion in 2025 — will provide a new north–south link, joining together and improving footfall across the neighborhood,” says Howells.
Arup is providing multi-disciplinary engineering services for the new bridge and also helped to deliver Eden Dock’s floating pontoons and walkways.
Reference
WWF (2022) Living Planet Report 2022 – Building a nature-positive society. Almond, R.E.A., Grooten, M., Juffe Bignoli, D. & Petersen, T. (Eds). WWF, Gland, Switzerland.