How London’s Docklands discovered a new identity

COMMENT For a no-nonsense financial district, Canary Wharf has always been quite a conceptual space.  Sitting away from the City and within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, it historically hasn’t felt quite connected to either, like it was developed elsewhere and airlifted into place. Originally conceived as an area for back offices, perhaps the greatest indication that Canary Wharf was never truly meant to welcome visitors is that instead of creating a London Underground line to service it, the Docklands Light Railway was born. It’s a nifty way to get around but is also a bit reminiscent of a children’s roller coaster. But change is coming to the Docklands, as vastly improved transport links are implemented from one of the UK’s most anticipated infrastructure projects in decades: Crossrail. Within the next few months (we’re told), commuters will be able to travel from Liverpool Street or Farringdon to Canary Wharf in less than 10 minutes. For a business district on the periphery of central London, it should be a game-changer. Pandemic-proofing Of course, beyond Crossrail’s intended uses, its station at Canary Wharf has further meaning. Crossrail Place, built on top of the station, is one of London’s new eating, drinking and shopping hotspots, as the area’s largest landlord seeks to turn the wharf into an everyday destination. This shift by Canary Wharf Group, much like its new flex workspace offering, MadeFor, is pandemic-proofing the estate. The landlord’s long-held ambitions to create a thriving neighbourhood are well in motion: more than 1,000 people already live on the estate, while Wood Wharf – its new 23-acre neighbourhood – will add up to 3,600 homes and 350,000 sq ft of shops and restaurants, as well as 2m sq ft of office space, a new NHS GP surgery and a primary school. Like CWG’s plans for the area, the Docklands as a whole is taking on new priorities as a result of the pandemic. A host of higher education institutions are increasingly looking for space in the area, with around 500,000 sq ft of requirements that we are aware of, as universities from across England, Wales and Scotland – as well as those from other continents – look to expand their London operations. Prior to the pandemic, many of these universities had been driven out of areas such as the City and Southwark because of rents – and then driven further by high costs for best-in-class new buildings. However, what is increasingly attractive in east London is the campus environment that developments such as Republic are offering. As more universities take space and as wellbeing rises up the agenda on the back of the pandemic and as a fundamental element of the social element of ESG, occupiers are keen to share in the community and student wellbeing facilities available on site, with the help of Trilogy, Republic’s developer. Force for change Meanwhile, we are seeing significant levels of interest in flex space in the Docklands. This includes our collaboration with The Trampery for a co-working centre that will provide students access to a working environment before and after graduation to work on new ideas and opportunities. This has been supported by the likes of the University of the West of Scotland. While higher education is by no means the only sector increasingly showing interest in the previously financial services-dominated area – with a 55/45 split between creative and financial businesses on the Canary Wharf estate – it is indicative of the fact that the identity of the Docklands is changing. Or, perhaps, properly emerging for the first time.  CWG, through its focus on build-to-rent, flex offices, retail and F&B, recognises this. And, in no small part, is responsible for helping to change perceptions of the area. When Crossrail arrives, the area once largely frequented only by its residents and besuited workers will open to visitors in a way that would have been unthinkable three decades ago when the first skyscrapers opened their doors. And as important as Crossrail will be for the future of the area, it may well be that its newest occupiers are the single greatest force for changing what people think of when they think about Canary Wharf.  The Docklands, it seems, is finally rediscovering an organic identity it hasn’t had since, well, it was full of docks. James Neville is a partner at Allsop