LA VILLE SOUTERRAINE

(pictured: double-sided, 7.2 m wide, 4m high, advertising screens dominate the concourse of the Jubilee Line Station, part of the Canary Wharf 'Underground City')

This is the extraordinary, but little-known, story of how a Canadian developer, employing Canadian architects, quietly included, under his estate of office buildings at Canary Wharf, what is still, after 40 years, the UK’s only, interconnected, enclosed, smoke-free, climate-controlled, weatherproof network of circulation and retailing, providing direct access from public transport, and sheltered pedestrian routes to other destinations over a wide area.

Montreal’s ‘Ville Souterraine’ (français québécois: 'Underground City') ‘RESO’ was the world’s first. Started in 1967, it links 1200 buildings with 32 km of tunnels and passageways.

When they designed Canary Wharf, Toronto-based developer Olympia & York, and their architect Adamson Associates, were used to working on projects in Toronto’s ‘PATH’ network, which connects shops and offices with tunnels and passageways, and provides a safe haven from cold and snow, and relief from summer heat.

Yes, England is mild, damp and grey, and rarely frosty and snowy, but as a refuge from reality, Canary Wharf’s ‘souterraine’ still works pretty well!

The heavenly sight and intoxicating aroma of freshly-prepared pastries and coffee greet us as we step through the automatic doors of Cabot Square, first of five connected concourses, all with elaborate ceilings, luxurious floor finishes, and high-end retailers: it is nothing less than a scaled-down but faithful reproduction of the Canadian Dream!

And this is definitely not your average UK shopping centre: we join a demographic described as ‘65% ABC1, affluent, professional, and engaged’*.

Naturally, there are some downsides to locating so much human activity underground:

· It diminishes activity outdoors: few shops at ground level and, apart from in Jubilee Park and Reuters Plaza, not many people.

· Navigation is a challenge, and signage important. Here it is curiously under-stated, and in my opinion, has a ‘North American’ quality.

· As in all enclosed shopping centres, we are temporarily ‘captive’, but here that provides a ‘unique opportunity for brands to connect with those high-net-worth, hard-to-reach residents, visitors and workers’.*

· For example, ‘The Loop’ is a system of 40 small format, full-motion screens, positioned right in the centre of the malls, directly facing pedestrians (the operator: ‘unmissable’*), delivering 8 million ‘impressions’ every fortnight.*

· The operator says: ‘your brand (will) benefit from state-of-the-art infrastructure and a vibrant atmosphere, where finance, technology, lifestyle, and culture converge. Advertising here ensures your message stands out and is repeatedly seen by people who are ready to notice and act.’*

And in a 2016 joint venture between TFL and Exterion Media, giant screens (pictured above), capable of full-motion video, were suspended from the concrete soffits of the Jubilee Line Station concourse.

It is rumoured ambient light levels were reduced to favour the screens*, and that more than a million people a week will see the advertisements.

But in a feat of navigation worthy of Giovanni Caboto himself, Canadian Hero**, after Cabot Place, we will see Canada, Churchill, and Jubilee Places, at which point we can exit up 4 storeys and emerge in the refreshing and recently-refurbished Jubilee Park.

Or, if you haven’t succumbed to Cabin Fever, we can continue underground to Wilkinson Eyre’s 1997 South Quay Footbridge, now curiously truncated.

From there your Christmas Bonuses will include:

· ‘Footbridges at Dusk’, some reflections!
· ‘High-Rise Apartment Lights’ (sub-title: ‘Have they gone out?’)
· ‘The stars in the east’: the global banks’ logos, and Canada Tower’s pulsing white light.
· ‘Mulled Wine on the Wharf’?

Please join me at the Crossrail Place exit from Canary Wharf Elizabeth Line station, at the top of the second flight of escalators, by the yellow switch-room doors, at noon on Saturday 13th December, when we will explore London’s own ‘Ville Souterraine’!

And afterwards at ‘Bõkan’ on the 39th floor of Novotel Marsh Wall.

* from industry websites.
**John Cabot, 1st European to explore the north coast of Canada.