Canary Wharf, London

Canary Wharf, London

Canary Wharf is a complex of skyscrapers on the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the London Docklands. This is the new financial centre for London, rivalling the importance of The Square Mile.

Canary Wharf contains three of the tallest buildings in the United Kingdom: One Canada Square, sometimes called Canary Wharf Tower, at 771 feet (235.1 metres), and HSBC Tower and Citigroup Centre, both at 654 feet (199.5 metres). It was built on the site of the old West India Docks, once one of the busiest docks in the world. The name Canary Wharf comes from the sea trade of the docks with the Canary Islands, which in turn got their names from the dogs (Latin canis), producing a coincidence that Canary Wharf, on the Isle of Dogs, was named after the Dog (Canary) Islands.

Canary Wharf, London
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canary_Wharf_200810.jpg
Author: WiNG


The project to revitalise the Docklands began in 1981 under the government of Margaret Thatcher. The idea for a new business centre at Canary Wharf can be traced back to 1984 when the late Michael von Clemm, chairman of Credit Suisse First Boston, visited the London Docklands over lunch, and compared the warehouses to those in Boston harbour, which have been converted into offices and business premises.

At that time, there was also a need to provide for large corporations, which need large areas of office space. The City of London, the traditional financial centre, has been resisting any attempts at building skyscrapers that would have housed the needs of big corporations. American property adviser G Ware Travelstead was instrumental in persuating the government of Margaret Thatcher to develop the docks into a new financial services district.

Skyscrapers of Canary Wharf
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canary_Wharf_looking_up_from_ground_level.jpg
Author: neiljs


Construction of Canary Wharf began in 1988, with phase one completed in 1991. One Canada Square was topped out in 1990, becoming the tallest building in UK, and a powerful symbol of the regeneration of Docklands.

When the world property market collapsed in the early 1990s, saddling the financier of Canary Wharf, Olympia and York, with a US$20 billion debt. It filed for bankruptcy in May 1992. At that time the underground train connection was not ready, and the only accessible link was through the Docklands Light Railway. As a result, tenant demand evaporated, and the scheme went into administration.

An international consortium backed by the former owners of Olympia and York bought over Canary Wharf in 1995. As the property market recovered, demand for space slowly improved.

HSBC Tower and Citigroup Centre were both designed by Norman Foster. Construction began in 1999 and the towers were completed in 2001.

Apart from HSBC and Citigroup, the tenants of Canary Wharf include Credit Suisse, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Barclays. In 1999, just 15,000 people worked in Canary Wharf. The number increased to 63,000 in 2004. Today about 90,000 people work there.

Getting there

The Canary Wharf Tube Station is served by the Jubilee Line. It is the busiest station of the London Underground outside of Central London, and the busiest served by just one line. Canary Wharf is also served by the Docklands Light Rail at the Canary Wharf DLR Station, Heron Quays DLR Station, and West India Quay DLR Station.

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