One Year On: WhatHouse? Award-Winner Canary Wharf Group

On the eve of the most prestigious event in the UK housebuilding calendar the WhatHouse? Awards 2022 – we continue our reviews of some of last year’s biggest successes and today it is developer Canary Wharf Group, which achieved four wins.

There was Gold for Best Luxury Development for One Park Drive, which has 483 apartments set over 58 floors. Designed by architects Herzog & de Meuron, the judges called it “a globally significant piece of architecture for London and also the one of the most distinctive residential buildings on the London skyline.” The superior outside engineering and appearance was matched internally too, with the apartments garnering praise for their extensive curved balconies and views, free-flowing spaces and high-quality finishes. An exclusive residents-only health club – which occupies the whole of the first floor and includes a 20m pool, Jacuzzi, sauna and steam rooms, gym, studios and 18-seat cinema – were other reasons the development received its top ranking.

One Park Drive also won Gold for Best Exterior Design. “It employs a variety of projections and setbacks on all sides; bay windows and balconies, with the apex of each projection drawing the approximation of a circumference in plan,” said the judges. “This sets it apart from its neighbours in Canary Wharf and provides not just a distinctive plan form but a varied one too, which ensures that the elevation remains impressive and engaging as it progresses up the building.

“The building can provoke thoughts, images and emotions beyond itself to take viewers and users out of themselves – beyond the immediate and everyday – something the best architecture has done for millennia.”

Newfoundland

As well as its luxurious private sale homes and affordable homes in a variety of tenures, the Canary Wharf Group is a major figure in London’s growing Built to Rent (BTR) sector and under its Vertus brand, the company picked up two prizes for its Newfoundland tower in Canary Wharf, east London.

At 58 storeys, it’s the UK’s tallest BTR tower and it comprises 636 studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, many of which offer panoramic views over Docklands and to The City.

Newfoundland was awarded Silver in the Best Exterior Design category. The judges described it as a BTR scheme that “provides some evidence that high-quality design is one of the upsides of this emerging long-term business model – so different to the historic build-and-flip that is endemic among many housebuilders.”

This development also received Bronze for Best Build to Rent Project. Judges praised the design, concierge service and flexible tenancies of the apartments, and the lifestyle on offer to tenants: “There is plenty of work and social space at Club Vertus, backed up by fast broadband, as well as a programme of events. Newfoundland has a gym, a private dining room and a games room that opens onto a large terrace with seating, a BBQ and children’s play areas.” M Canary Wharf is now in the building too, with a grill, wine store and tasting room, as well as cocktail bar and garden and a private members’ lounge and dining room.

Alastair Mullens, managing director of Vertus, commented: “Newfoundland has quickly developed a reputation for being one of the most distinctive Build to Rent buildings in the UK, and these fantastic accolades further build on that reputation.”