Floating pavilions have been towed on the Thames into Canary Wharf to house a new bar and restaurant complex with gardens.
The London Project due to open by the end of the year is being moored at Water Square in the new Wood Wharf development at Blackwall to create “a close relationship” for people to experience what the former India and Millwall Docks were like.
It is to include art, music and even a gin distillery, with seating areas and aquatic plants.
“People will experience the historic dock in a new way,” architect director David Henderson explained. “They will have a close relationship with the water for the first time, connected to the quays by bridges and boardwalks.”
The roofs are being decorated with blankets of mixed wildflowers and grasses to attract wildlife insects and birds to make people “feel more connected with the elements” in the built surroundings of Canary Wharf.
Head of retail leasing at Canary Wharf Group, Stuart Fyfe, said: “We’re hoping that linking our urban space with the historic docks and waterways can make people feel more connected with the elements in the urban surroundings.”
The two floating pavilions are being powered by sustainable energy from Canary Wharf’s combined heat and power network, which has come from renewable sources since 2012.
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