Located beside Ballymore and Oxley’s Royal Wharf development in London’s Royal Docks, our Royal Wharf Pier brings the very first floating public space to London and the Thames.
From Friday 18 October 2019, Thames Clippers will begin calling at Royal Wharf. The 23rd pier provides a new transport option to and from central London for residents of the Royal Docks, visitors to ExCel London and travellers using London City Airport. As traffic has decreased, the area surrounding the Royal Docks has been redeveloped, providing new homes, activities and attractions.
The pier extends the Royal Wharf development’s riverside public realm with a promenade, which stretches 40m into the Thames and is publicly accessible all year-round. This linear open space is reminiscent of traditional British seaside piers, framing long, impressive views towards the horizon.
At the heart of the pier, a 162sqm public viewing platform provides a generous and peaceful space, featuring elegantly integrated bench seating at its centre to encourage people to linger, relax and admire the unobstructed views up and down the Thames.
The viewing platform also separates the public promenade from the floating gangway and pontoon of the Thames Clippers terminal, with our distinctly angular design making the pier appear seemingly infinite from the river edge. The patterned aluminium and timber balustrades used along the public promenade are also replicated along the floating walkway – conveying a sleek sense of continuity, here they extend above handrail height, creating a semi-enclosed space that provides commuters with shelter.
The lighting designers selected LED Linear for the handrail and benches to get a warm atmosphere into the pier and to offer a perfect orientation light for the pedestrians. iGuzzini’s canopy downlights were used in the enclosed area for boarding the boats.
Photos by Gavriil Papadiotis
