N
avigating central London via its
river is not yet something that
many Londoners do on a daily
basis. However more commuters are now
using the MBNA Thames Clipper river taxi
service run by Transport for London from
Battersea to Woolwich, alighting to and
from a striking new pier at Royal Wharf in
the East End. It’s the result of a client who
wanted to go beyond simply creating a
practical means of mooring this sizeable
vessel, to creating a considered architectural
addition to the city which provides new
public space on the river.
Ballymore and Oxley’s Royal Wharf is a
major new riverside mixed-use developmentof low and medium-rise blocks including
around 3,400 residential units, and located
just west of the Thames Barrier and south
west of City Airport. According to Alan
Dempsey, director at architects Nex—,
Ballymore and Oxley “were looking for
something different” when they appointed
the firm, who were in competition against a
clutch of much larger practices.
This explains why they had the
confidence to pick a firm with no
experience of transport infrastructure, but
possessing “a very clear vision for how this
pier could address some bigger questions,”
says Dempsey. It was to be much more than
just a “bus stop,” he says, but wouldADF FEBRUARY 2020 WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK
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