Designed to accommodate The City’s expanding financial activities, SOM’s Master Plan revitalised a major vacated London Docklands site in the Isle of Dogs to create a world-class business environment at a time when London was struggling to maintain its status as the centre for banking and finance in Europe. The project provided large-scale office and trading floor space, new retail facilities and significant new public outdoor amenities in order to attract international calibre tenants. SOM master planned the entire development and led the detailed design of the initial and subsequent urban infrastructure including new streets, parks, gardens, plazas, waterfront courts and promenades, major utility facilities and service corridors. The master plan established essential connections to public transport, linking Canary Wharf to Central London via the Docklands Light Rail (DLR), The Jubilee Line (London Underground) as well as ensuring the vital integration of Crossrail in the near future which will add further development potential to the Estate. SOM also designed several key buildings throughout the various phases of delivery over the past 25 years comprising over 350,000 square metres in total area. Building on the variety of public spaces established in SOM’s Master Plan, the firm led the detailed design and construction of the overall public realm during the initial and subsequent phases of development. In collaboration with local artists and landscape architects, the varying scales and diverse character of the Estate’s outdoor places were brought to life. Comprehensive designs integrated gardens, plazas, watercourts, outdoor and indoor shopping arcades and dockside promenades throughout the Estate. Tree-lined urban boulevards were established catering primarily to pedestrians while also providing places for VIP drop-offs, taxi-queuing and local bus stops. ‘In-between’ spaces were rigorously coordinated with neighbouring buildings through a comprehensive collaboration between SOM and individual building design teams. Over time, other designers also added to the initial public realm design creating unique pedestrian bridge linkages to adjacent docks and the wider community.