Fenchurch Avenue Roof Garden

designed by Latz + Partner + LUC /

Location / London — UK — Type / Corporate/Company Garden — Roofs — Built / 2018 — Show on Google Maps / Published on July 8, 2024

The Garden at 120 is free to enter and fully accessible to the public, sitting 65m above street level and offering 360o views across London’s skyline. Recently The Garden received it’s One millionth visitor and was awarded the prestigious BALI Special Award for Horticultural Excellence in 2022.

Working in collaboration with Eric Parry Architects and Latz + Partner, LUC was selected by Saxon Generali Real Estate to design a roof garden for 120 Fenchurch Street, a new 17-storey mixed-use development at the heart of the City cluster in the City of London. LUC’s services included planting design, pre-selection and specification, planning and inspection to deliver the soft landscape for the building’s 2,200m2 rooftop terrace.

The design is required to deliver a beautiful public space whilst also integrating building services and energy efficiency requirements. Its centrepiece is a grove of 88 wisteria supported on a bespoke steel pergola, providing shade and scent to the roof terrace. Recent photographs show this year’s wisteria bloom being appreciated by visitors, as the living canopy overhead develops and matures. It provides a refreshingly tranquil escape from the dense City cluster and streets below. Educational and school groups, local workers and residents, tourists and passionate plant-lovers all take time to experience this sky-high oasis. Designed to BREEAM excellent, the scheme combines herbaceous planting with evergreen clipped structural planting, thriving climbers, vines and espalier fruit. Arrival is by elevator into the wisteria-draped invigorating space. Plentiful seating encourages visitors to sit amongst the planting and take in both the serenity of The Garden and the dynamism of the city all around.