Dundee Wharf

Limehouse, London

Situated prominently on an outer bend of the River Thames at Limehouse Reach and bounded by a dock inlet, Dundee Wharf presented a real engagement with the river and a rare potential for the exploitation of outstanding views both upstream and downstream. It was only slightly constrained in having a four-lane major highway tunnel beneath it, serving Canary Wharf. The building form reacts to the bend by presenting the apex of a right-angle to the river’s edge with the two wings facing up and downstream. The wings are extended to follow the dock inlet edge and site boundary to form an irregular ‘horseshoe’, giving a strong sense of place to the private side of the development. The form of the diagonal right angle also divides the riverside into two triangular public spaces, one soft, the other hard, and here the apartments are raised into an eleven-storey tower where the strong architectural statement is completed by the addition of a steel tower of large balcony decks which straddles the riverside walk and links to the tower apartments with bridges. The single layer basement car park is unusually deep, the extra excavation relieving load on the tunnel roof to enable the construction of additional floors of accommodation. Client: Ballymore Properties