1 West India Quay, Skyscraper and brasserie in Canary Wharf, London, England.
1 West India Quay is a glass and aluminium tower in the Canary Wharf area of London, built on a curved elliptical footprint with more than thirty floors. The ground level houses a brasserie opening onto the waterfront, while the upper floors contain a hotel and private apartments.
The tower opened in 2004 on the site of the old West India Docks, which were among London's main trading ports throughout the 1800s. The docks closed during the 20th century, and the whole area was then redeveloped from the 1980s onward into what became Canary Wharf.
The building takes its name from the old quay where it stands, once a busy landing point for goods arriving from overseas. Today, visitors to the brasserie can sit outside and look directly across the water at the old 19th-century warehouses that line the opposite bank.
The brasserie on the ground floor is open to the public, but the rest of the building is reserved for hotel guests and residents. It sits right on the waterfront and is easy to reach on foot from West India Quay DLR station in just a few minutes.
The tower's curved shape was made possible by using post-tensioned concrete framing, a method that was uncommon in London at the time of construction. This technique allowed the walls to curve outward without needing extra internal supports, which is why the interior floors feel so open.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
