A new 2,600-square-metre riverside park has opened to the public at King Edward Memorial Park in Wapping, following the completion of Tideway’s work at the site.

 The new public realm opened on Wednesday 29 July, extending the park into the River Thames and creating new terraces, planting, seating, public art and an improved section of the Thames Path.

With the opening of King Edward Memorial Park Foreshore, all the new public spaces created through Tideway’s work are now open – including seven on the banks of the Thames. 

Tideway marked the opening with a small community event on Friday, welcoming local residents and passers-by to explore the space and meet members of the team. 

Matt Parr, Tideway CEO, said: “We are delighted to open this wonderful new space and welcome people back to the riverside. It is the result of many years of complex engineering and careful design, creating a place that connects the area’s past with its present and will provide a lasting benefit for the local community.

“We would particularly like to thank our neighbours for their patience and understanding throughout the construction programme. It was a real pleasure to welcome residents and visitors on Friday and to see people already beginning to enjoy the completed space.”

The opening represents a significant milestone for a site where work began in 2017. Beneath the new public space, Tideway has constructed infrastructure to intercept one of London’s most polluting sewer overflows and divert sewage into the 25km super sewer as it passes around 60 metres below the park.

Extending the site into the river provided the space needed to carry out this work while reducing the amount of the existing park required for construction. The completed structure has now added around 2,600 square metres of permanent public space to King Edward Memorial Park. 

The new area has been designed to reconnect the park with the Thames, offering south-facing views across the river and a range of places to sit, meet and spend time by the water.

Its western lower terrace is designed to be overtopped during higher tides, allowing the changing level of the Thames to become part of visitors’ experience of the space. Level access and smooth surfaces have been incorporated throughout, alongside a wider, realigned Thames Path and an improved east-to-west route through the park.

New trees, perennial planting and two grass mounds connect the riverside space with the established park.

Ecological features include an intertidal habitat terrace, a textured river wall providing spaces for fauna and invertebrates, and a planted brown roof on the site’s mechanical and electrical kiosk.

The public realm also features a series of permanent artworks entitled, Cargoes – a group of six cast-bronze boat sculptures by internationally renowned artist Hew Locke OBE.

Inspired by the area’s connections with shipping, trade and migration, the sculptures form a trail between the riverside and the wider park. Each richly detailed vessel reflects aspects of the Thames’s maritime history and the changing communities of London’s East End.