St George Wharf
Why is it significant?
St George Wharf in London is a pioneering riverside residential development in Nine Elms designed by Broadway Malyan featuring green glass buildings with curved gull-wing roofs. Built on an industrial site abandoned for over forty years, the complex includes One St George Wharf, a fifty-one storey, one-hundred-and-eighty-one-metre residential tower topped with a ten-metre wind turbine.
Key Facts
| Place | St George Wharf |
|---|---|
| Address | St George Wharf, London SW8 2LE |
| Geo Coordinates | 51.48503, -0.12699 |
| Audio Duration | ~2 min |
| Part of Walk | Vauxhall to Battersea: Riverside Modern Marvels |
| Generated | Generated |
What to look for?
- Architects Broadway Malyan designed St George Wharf on a London industrial site abandoned for over forty years.
- One St George Wharf stands fifty-one storeys tall and reaches a height of one hundred and eighty-one metres.
- A ten-metre wind turbine sits beneath the spire of One St George Wharf to light its public halls.
- Building blocks at St George Wharf carry maritime names including Drake, Armada, Galleon, and Jellicoe.
How tall is the One St George Wharf tower in London?
Look around at these striking green glass structures stepping down toward the water. Their dramatic curved, gull-wing roofs look like a line of modern ships docked along the bank. Today, this stretch of Nine Elms is a vibrant residential enclave, but when construction began at the turn of the twenty-first century, this riverbank looked radically different. For over forty years, this was an abandoned industrial site dominated by cold storage warehouses and rail yards. St George Wharf changed everything. Designed by architects Broadway Malyan, it was the pioneering spark that kicked off the post-industrial revival stretching from Vauxhall Bridge to Battersea Power Station. If you look at the building names along the boardwalk, you will notice a distinct maritime theme. Blocks are named Drake, Armada, Galleon, and Jellicoe, honoring Britain's nautical past while mimicking the silhouettes of ocean liners. Just beneath your feet, history runs deeper still. Right near this spot, the River Effra, one of London's lost underground rivers, silently empties into the Thames after winding beneath Brixton and South Lambeth. Piercing the sky above stands One St George Wharf, a soaring fifty-one storey glass cylinder reaching one hundred and eighty-one metres into the air. When completed, it was the tallest purely residential tower in the United Kingdom. Its floor plan was engineered like a Catherine wheel, with spiraling sky gardens stepped into the glass facade. But its most unusual feature sits at the very top. Beneath the spire, a ten-metre wind turbine turns in the breeze to light the public halls. Deep below, the tower reaches into London's ancient aquifer, using heat pumps to draw warmth from underground water. It is a fascinating mix of high-concept green engineering and luxury living. As you stroll along the granite promenade, take a moment to enjoy the sweeping view across the water toward Pimlico. What started here as a bold gamble on an abandoned riverfront set the blueprint for the dramatic new skyline unfolding ahead of you along Nine Elms.