Foster + Partners’ Crossrail Place development has opened at Canary Wharf in London. A curving timber lattice roof wraps around four levels of leisure and retail facilities and a rooftop public garden.

The opening comes three years before Canary Wharf Crossrail Station itself throws open its doors in 2018, serving the new Crossrail railway line.

Fosters said the public garden is densely planted with trees and plants and is interspersed with seating and pavilions. It's accessible from ground level via two connecting bridges. The roof opens in the centre to draw in light and rain for natural irrigation, and opens along the sides and at either end to allow views of the water and surrounding streets.

Described as a “fusion of architecture and engineering”, the lattice roof has only four curved timber beams in its whole structure, despite the smooth curve of the enclosure.

To seamlessly connect the straight beams, which rotate successively along the diagonals, Foster + Partners developed a system of steel nodes, which resolve the twist. The lattice is made up of 1,418 beams and 564 nodes, 364 of which are unique.

“The building is conceived to mediate between the adjoining worlds of Canary Wharf and the local community – with its different materials and the emphasis on a softer expression and warmer materials,” said Lord Foster, chairman and founder of Foster + Partners.

“The social magnets of shopping, bars, restaurant and a public garden are also part of an enlightened partnership between the public and private domains,” he said.

Adamson Associates collaborated in the project, while Gillespies served as landscape architect.

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