Kensington Roof Gardens, Roof garden and nightclub in Kensington High Street, London, United Kingdom.
Kensington Roof Gardens is a garden space located on the sixth floor of a former department store building on Kensington High Street. Three distinct garden sections spread across the rooftop, featuring mature trees, walking paths, and planted beds on this high-altitude green space.
A landscape architect designed and built the gardens between 1936 and 1938 as a green space atop a department store. After serving as a venue for decades, the site closed in 2018 and has since remained closed to the public.
The gardens showcase Spanish, Tudor, and English woodland sections, each reflecting different building styles and gardening traditions. Walking through the areas, visitors can experience how each style creates its own distinct mood and planting character.
The rooftop location offers views over the surrounding area, though access is currently not permitted. Those interested in the site's history and design can appreciate the building's architecture from street level.
Over 70 mature trees, including full-sized oaks, grow on the rooftop of this London building, which is remarkable for such a height. This large collection of established trees on a roof surface is an uncommon feature in urban green space design.
Location: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Inception: 1936
Part of: Marks and Spencers, British Home Stores and the Roof Garden
GPS coordinates: 51.50111,-0.19194
Latest update: December 6, 2025 16:00
This collection brings together urban locations away from the usual routes, ranging from historic churches and public gardens to libraries, museums, and markets. The selection includes underground salt mines in Poland, converted railway stations in Rotterdam, rooftop gardens in London, abandoned listening stations in Berlin, butterfly gardens in Laos, a transformed bookstore in Buenos Aires, and a canal system running through the old town buildings of Lyon. Some of these places sit in quiet neighborhoods or on city edges, while others hide within busy districts. They show architecture from different centuries, religious sites from various traditions, art projects on former industrial land, and markets that have grown in unusual settings. Some spots offer insight into local ways of life, others tell stories of historical change or artistic experiments. The collection connects places that are often overlooked but worth visiting.
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