Canary Wharf

Canary Wharf
Skyline of Canary Wharf, viewed from the west
Canary Wharf  Canary Wharf shown within Greater London
Population	73,390 (Millwall, Blackwall and Cubitt Town, East India and Lansbury and Limehouse wards 2011 Census)
OS grid reference	TQ375802
London borough	Tower Hamlets
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	E14
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Poplar and Limehouse
London Assembly	City and East
List of places UK England London

Coordinates: 51°30′13″N 0°01′06″W / 51.503611°N 0.018333°W / 51.503611; -0.018333

Canary Wharf is a major business district located in Tower Hamlets, East London. It is one of the United Kingdom's two main financial centres – along with the traditional City of London – and contains many of Europe's tallest buildings, including the second-tallest in the UK, One Canada Square.^[1][2]

Canary Wharf contains around 16,000,000 square feet (1,500,000 m²) of office and retail space, of which around 7,900,000 square feet (730,000 m²) is owned by Canary Wharf Group.^[3] Around 105,000 people work in Canary Wharf^[4] and it is home to the world or European headquarters of numerous major banks, professional services firms and media organisations including Barclays, Citigroup, Clifford Chance, Credit Suisse, EY, Fitch Ratings, HSBC, Infosys, J.P. Morgan, KPMG, MetLife, Moody's, Morgan Stanley, RBC, S&P Global, Skadden, State Street and Thomson Reuters.^[5]

History

Canary Wharf, view east from Cabot Square.

Canary Wharf is located on the West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs.

From 1802 to 1939, the area was one of the busiest docks in the world. After the 1960s, the port industry began to decline, leading to all the docks being closed by 1980.^[6][7] Of the three main docks of the West India Docks, the Canary Wharf estate occupies part of the north side and the entire south side of the Import Dock (North Dock), both sides of the Export Dock (Middle Dock) and the north side of the South Dock.

Canary Wharf itself takes its name from No. 32 berth of the West Wood Quay of the Import Dock. This was built in 1936 for Fruit Lines Ltd, a subsidiary of Fred Olsen Lines for the Mediterranean and Canary Islands fruit trade. At their request, the quay and warehouse were given the name Canary Wharf.^[8]

After the docks closed in 1980, the British Government adopted policies to stimulate redevelopment of the area, including the creation of the London Docklands Development Corporation in 1981 and the granting of Urban Enterprise Zone status to the Isle of Dogs in 1982.^[7]

Canary Wharf aerial view (2009), from the southeast end of the Isle of Dogs.

The Canary Wharf of today began when Michael von Clemm, former chairman of Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), came up with the idea to convert Canary Wharf into a back office. Further discussions with G Ware Travelstead led to proposals for a new business district.

The project was sold to the Canadian company Olympia & York^[9] and construction began in 1988, master-planned by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with Yorke Rosenberg Mardall as their UK advisors, and subsequently by Koetter Kim. The first buildings were completed in 1991, including One Canada Square, which became the UK's tallest building at the time and a symbol of the regeneration of Docklands. By the time it opened, the London commercial property market had collapsed, and Olympia and York Canary Wharf Limited filed for bankruptcy in May 1992.

Initially, the City of London saw Canary Wharf as an existential threat. It modified its planning laws to expand the provision of new offices in the City of London, for example, creating offices above railway stations (Blackfriars) and roads (Alban Gate). The resulting oversupply of office space contributed to the failure of the No 1 Canada Square project.

In 1997, some residents living on the Isle of Dogs launched a lawsuit against Canary Wharf Ltd for private nuisance because the tower interfered with television signals. The residents lost the case.^[10]

In December 1995 an international consortium, backed by the former owners of Olympia & York and other investors, bought the scheme. The new company was called Canary Wharf Limited, and later became Canary Wharf Group.

Recovery in the property market generally, coupled with continuing demand for large floorplate Grade A office space, slowly improved the level of interest. A critical event in the recovery was the much-delayed start of work on the Jubilee Line Extension, which the government wanted ready for the Millennium celebrations.

In March 2004, Canary Wharf Group plc. was taken over by a consortium of investors, backed by its largest shareholder Glick Family Investments^[11] and led by Morgan Stanley using a vehicle named Songbird Estates plc.

At the peak of property prices in 2007, the HSBC building sold for a record £1.1 billion.^[12]

In March 2014 planning permission was granted for the second residential building on the Canary Wharf estate, a 58-storey tower including 566 apartments plus shops and a health club.^[13]

In July 2014 Canary Wharf Group was granted planning permission for a major eastwards expansion of the Canary Wharf estate.^[14][15] The plans include the construction of 30 buildings comprising a total of 4.9 million square feet, including shops, 1.9 million square feet of commercial offices and 3,100 homes.^[14][15] Construction is planned to commence in autumn 2014 with the first buildings to be occupied at the end of 2018.^[14]

In 2014, Singapore listed Oxley Holdings, together with developer Ballymore UK, have a joint venture to set up a new waterfront township of Royal Wharf with 3385 new homes housing over 10,000 people.

Tallest buildings

This table lists completed buildings in Canary Wharf that are over 60 metres tall.

Ranking by height	Image	Name	Height		Floors	Completion date	Notes
			Metres	Feet
1		One Canada Square	235	771	50	1991	The second-tallest completed building in the United Kingdom, the tallest being The Shard. Designed by Cesar Pelli, it was the tallest building in Europe upon completion in 1991. Multi-tenanted; occupiers include The Bank of New York Mellon, the CFA Institute, Clearstream, EEX (European Energy Exchange), Euler Hermes, the International Sugar Organization, Mahindra Satyam, MetLife, Moody's Analytics and Trinity Mirror.[16]
2		8 Canada Square	200	655	42	2002	The joint fifth-tallest completed building in the United Kingdom. Occupied by HSBC as its world headquarters.[17]
3		25 Canada Square	200	655	42	2001	The joint fifth-tallest completed building in the United Kingdom. 25 Canada Square and 33 Canada Square together form a single complex known as the Citigroup Centre. Primarily occupied by Citigroup as its EMEA headquarters.[18] Other tenants include Gain Capital, 3i Infotech, Lehman Brothers (in Administration), Crossrail, Instinet, Munich Re, MWB Group, SunGard and Wells Fargo.[16]
4		One Churchill Place	156	513	32	2005	Occupied by Barclays as its world headquarters.[19] Currently the eighth-tallest building in the United Kingdom, it was originally planned to be 50 stories in height, but was scaled down to 31 after the 11 September attacks.
5		40 Bank Street	153	502	33	2003	Multi-tenanted; occupiers include Allen & Overy, ANZ Bank, China Construction Bank, Duff & Phelps, Saxo Bank and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.[16]
6		25 Bank Street	153	502	33	2003	Occupied by JP Morgan Chase as its European headquarters since 2012.[20]
7		10 Upper Bank Street	151	495	32	2003	Occupied by Clifford Chance as its world headquarters.[21] Other occupiers include FTSE Group, Infosys, MasterCard, Deutsche Bank and Total.[16]
8		25 Churchill Place	130	426	23	2014	The building houses the European Medicines Agency from early 2014 and Ernst & Young from 2015.
9		1 West India Quay	108	354	36	2004	Floors 1-12 are occupied by a Marriott Hotel.[22] Floors 13-33 house 158 apartments.
10		33 Canada Square	105	344	18	1999	33 Canada Square and 25 Canada Square together form a single complex, see above for details.
11		1 Cabot Square	89	292	21	1991	Occupied by Credit Suisse.[23]
12		5 Canada Square	88	288	16	2003	Occupied by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.[16]
13		25 Cabot Square	81	265	17	1991	Occupied by Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley also occupies the nearby 20 Bank Street as its European headquarters.[24] The architect was Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
14		25 North Colonnade	80	262	15	1991	Occupied by the Financial Conduct Authority as its headquarters.[16] The architect was John McAslan and Partners.
15		20 Bank Street	68	223	14	2003	Occupied by Morgan Stanley as its European headquarters. Morgan Stanley also occupies the nearby 25 Cabot Square. It was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Transport

The Canary Wharf developers played a pro-active role in improving transport links, which they recognised as essential to the success of the project.

Beginning in 1985, they proposed extension of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) to Bank, and upgrading of frequencies and capacity. The DLR now serves three stations in the area: West India Quay, Canary Wharf, Heron Quays.

In 1988, they proposed construction of a second rail line to Docklands, which ultimately became the Jubilee Line Extension. After the Jubilee Extension opened in 1999, Canary Wharf began to actively promote Crossrail.

Aviation

London City Airport runway with Canary Wharf in the background.

London City Airport is linked to both Canary Wharf and the City of London via the Docklands Light Railway, and an interchange to the London Underground. London City Airport DLR station is situated immediately adjacent to the terminal building, with enclosed access to and from the elevated platforms. The Vanguard helipad serves a parcel service by helicopter to Heathrow Airport.^[25]

London Buses

Canary Wharf is served by several bus routes, including the 135, 277, D3, D7, D8 and N550 and has been since its beginning, which has been vital in the continuing development of the estate.

Current routes

Route	Start	End	Served area since	Notes
135	Crossharbour	Old Street station	24 May 2008[26]
277	Crossharbour	Highbury and Islington	01 July 1991[27]	24 Hours operations[27]
D3	Bethnal Green Bonner Road	Leamouth Saffron Avenue	18 September 1999[28]
D7	Mile End	Poplar All Saints	18 September 1999[29]
D8	Stratford International	Crossharbour ASDA	07 December 1991[30]
N550	Canning Town	Trafalgar Square	29 August 2008[31]

Docklands Light Railway

A train arriving at Heron Quays DLR station.

Heron Quays Station, one of the first stations to be built in the Canary Wharf estate, was first opened in 1987. The station has two platforms in use, is in Travelcard Zone 2, and is on the Lewisham branch of the Docklands Light Railway, between Canary Wharf and South Quay. The station was moved 200 metres south (to fit inside the new buildings) and a longer platform was built at this new site to accommodate three-unit trains planned as part of the DLR Capacity Enhancement; the station re-opened on 18 December 2002.

Canary Wharf Station had been part of the original DLR plans, but the station was not ready when the DLR opened in August 1987. It was originally planned that the station would be similar to the original station at Heron Quays, with two small platforms either side of the tracks. The station is located on the DLR between Heron Quays station and the West India Quay station, in Travelcard Zone 2.

London Underground

The interior of Canary Wharf tube station.

The Canary Wharf tube station is a two platform station designed by Norman Foster and opened in 1999 as part of the Jubilee Line Extension from Charing Cross to Stratford. Canary Wharf station has increasingly become one of the busiest stations on the network, serving the ever-expanding Canary Wharf business district.

The station was used as a location for some scenes of Danny Boyle's 2002 film 28 Days Later and its sequel 28 Weeks Later, which was mostly based in Canary Wharf.

Crossrail

Canary Wharf railway station began construction in May 2009 and will be completed in 2017 as part of the £17 billion Crossrail project. The station will have two platforms and will be in Travelcard Zone 2.

London River Services

The Canary Wharf Pier is a London River Services pier on the River Thames located to the west of Canary Wharf, close to Narrow Street, Limehouse.

Cycling

Cycle Superhighway CS3 between Tower Gateway and Barking passes to the north of Canary Wharf near Westferry station and the National Cycle Route passes to the west on the Thames Path.

See also

• Canary Wharf – Rotherhithe Ferry
• Canary Wharf bombing
• The Wharf newspaper
• Spinningfields

References

Further reading

• Kevin D'Arcy (2012). London's 2nd City: Creating Canary Wharf. Rajah Books. ISBN 0955670624. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Canary Wharf.

• Canary Wharf – Official Information Site
• Canary Wharf Group plc
• Canary Wharf projects on Skyscrapernews
• The Definitive Guide to Canary Wharf Pier

Canary Wharf
Buildings	Current One Canada Square (235 m, 1991) 8 Canada Square (200 m, 2002) Citigroup Centre (200 m, 2001) One Churchill Place (156 m, 2004) 25 Bank Street (153 m, 2003) 40 Bank Street (153 m, 2003) 10 Upper Bank Street (151 m, 2003) 1 Cabot Square (89 m, 1991) 5 Canada Square (88 m, 2003) 25 Cabot Square (81 m, 1991) 25 North Colonnade (80 m, 1991) 10 Cabot Square (74 m, 1991) 20 Canada Square (71 m, 2003) 20 Bank Street (68 m, 2003) 20 Cabot Square (65 m, 1991) 50 Bank Street (63 m, 2002) 30 South Colonnade (62 m, 1991) 17 Columbus Courtyard (45 m, 1999) 20 Columbus Courtyard (45 m, 1999) 1 Westferry Circus (45 m, 1992) 11 Westferry Circus (45 m, 1997) 15 Westferry Circus (44.5 m, 2001) 7 Westferry Circus (43.6 m, 1992) Under construction Riverside South 25 Churchill Place Approved Columbus Tower Heron Quays West North Quay Wood Wharf
Transport links	Current A13 road Canary Wharf DLR Station Canary Wharf Pier Canary Wharf – Rotherhithe Ferry Canary Wharf Underground Station Heron Quays DLR Station London City Airport South Quay DLR Station Under construction Canary Wharf Crossrail Station
Other	1996 Docklands bombing Canary Wharf Group Canary Wharf Squash Classic Olympia and York Michael von Clemm The Wharf Museum of London Docklands
Category Commons

London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Districts	Bethnal Green Blackwall Bow Bow Common Bromley-by-Bow Cambridge Heath Canary Wharf Coldharbour Cubitt Town Globe Town East Smithfield Fish Island Hackney Wick Isle of Dogs Leamouth Limehouse Mile End Millwall Old Ford Poplar Ratcliff St Katharine Docks Shadwell Spitalfields Stepney Tower Hill Wapping Whitechapel
Attractions	Brick Lane Christ Church, Spitalfields Fournier Street Museum of Childhood Museum in Docklands Ragged School Museum St Katharine Docks Tower Bridge Tower of London Traitors' Gate Whitechapel Art Gallery London Olympic Park
Street markets	Petticoat Lane Brick Lane Columbia Road Old Spitalfields Roman Road
Parks and open spaces	Altab Ali Park Bartlett Park Island Gardens Langdon Park Mile End Park Mudchute Tower Hamlets Cemetery Victoria Park
Governance	London borough council Directly elected mayor Civic mayor/speaker of council Constituencies: Bethnal Green and Bow Poplar and Limehouse
Bridges and tunnels	Blackwall Tunnel Greenwich foot tunnel Rotherhithe Tunnel Tower Bridge
Tube and rail stations	Aldgate East All Saints Bethnal Green Bethnal Green Blackwall Bow Church Bow Road Bromley-by-Bow Cambridge Heath Canary Wharf (DLR) Canary Wharf (tube) Crossharbour Devons Road East India Heron Quays Island Gardens Langdon Park Limehouse Mile End Mudchute Poplar Shadwell Shadwell South Quay Stepney Green Tower Gateway Tower Hill Wapping railway station West India Quay Westferry Whitechapel
Other topics	Council Grade I and II* listed buildings People Public art Schools
Category Commons