Jubilee Park Canary Wharf

Created by 'Wirtz Designs' in 2001, Jubilee Park sits above Canary Wharf tube station and provides a central landscape environment for employees who otherwise are trapped in a mecca of reflective towering enormity. It is spectacularly naff! It reminded me very much of a small courtyard garden that you might expect to find in a hospital or doctors surgery which has been stretched and extruded to fit into a larger space in the centre of Canary Wharf. I don't understand the inclusion of the 'traditional dainty' walls that meander through the site in an attempt to emulate a 'cottagey feel'. Although I can imagine in the summer the banks provide pleasant places for office workers to indulge in catching some sun.

I can't help thinking that a more crisp, affluent design would seem more appropriate to reflect the landmark that is Canary Wharf. It is plausible that a design such as the existing one might help its users disconnect from their rigid, clean lives in the office, but I question whether this is necessary. A more lavish, sublime intervention definately seems more appropriate.

I read the banks were formed using a mound of polystyrene underneath the planting, which is an exciting use of an unusual material, however the ecological impact seems questionable. During the construction of the park a critical mass/weight needed to be maintained to prevent the station from rising due to underground water pressure, which certainly an alarming constraint to consider.

Wirtz designs here