Office Space in Canary Wharf: What Businesses Need to Know

Canary Wharf is Europe’s largest urban regeneration project and one of London’s most significant business districts. What began in the late 1980s as a redevelopment of derelict docklands is now home to over 120,000 workers across more than 16 million sq ft of office space. It’s also anchored by some of the tallest and most recognisable towers in the city.

The estate has changed considerably over the past decade. Once associated almost exclusively with banking and professional services, Canary Wharf now hosts a genuine mix of finance, technology, life sciences and media occupiers. New developments at Wood Wharf sit alongside 1990s and 2000s towers, and the retail, leisure and residential offer has expanded well beyond the original financial district.

This guide covers what you need to know about office space in Canary Wharf: the streets, the transport, the building types and five of the area’s most notable buildings.

Table of contents:

• 1. Working in Canary Wharf
• 2. Location, transport and key streets
• 3. Types of office space in Mayfair
• 4. Key buildings
• 5. Key considerations
• 6. Office space costs in Mayfair
• 7. FAQs

5 key office buildings in Canary Wharf

Canary Wharf’s office market is all about scale and connectivity with a building stock that now spans three decades of development. From the 1990s towers that established the estate to the newest Wood Wharf buildings, the range on offer is wider than most people expect.

The following five buildings illustrate that variety, from landmark towers with some of the largest floorplates in London to newer developments that have brought a different kind of occupier to the estate.

Why businesses choose it

• One of only a handful of BREEAM Outstanding buildings in Canary Wharf, combining new specification with the sustainability credentials that regulated financial services occupiers increasingly need.
• A genuine waterfront position on South Colonnade, with sweeping views across the dock and skyline from every floor, plus two new restaurants and a juice bar at ground level.
• A rooftop communal terrace and end-of-trip facilities for 300 cyclists, including 300 lockers and 30 showers. It’s among the most generous cycling provision in Canary Wharf.
• Revolut has taken 113,892 sq ft to 2035, anchoring the building and signalling confidence from fintech occupiers in the newest Canary Wharf stock.

Occupiers

Revolut is the anchor tenant on a lease running to April 2035, taking the majority of the building’s office space. Hitachi Rail, Big Mamma, Brother Marcus and Hagen Espresso occupy smaller office and ground-floor retail units. The building was around 41% leased at the time of writing, which means prospective occupiers still have rare access to a substantial contiguous block in a new-build Canary Wharf tower (up to 242,254 sq ft).

Features

As one of the newest large buildings on the estate, 30 South Colonnade gives occupiers a genuine alternative to the established towers around Canada Square. The waterfront position, cycling facilities and rooftop terrace speak to a different kind of occupier brief than the 1990s stock nearby – one focused as much on wellbeing and sustainability as on raw floor area.

Why businesses choose it

• 1:8 occupational density throughout, with dual power supply from two independent substations. The specification is built for occupiers with intensive space use or genuine resilience requirements.
• 7,534 sq ft of accessible terraces and balconies. More outdoor space than most Canary Wharf buildings of a similar size.
• Home to the Kadans Science Partner wet lab incubator, giving the building a genuine life sciences dimension ahead of the wider North Quay hub arriving in 2027.
• Canary Wharf Underground station is a five-minute walk, with resilient 5G and Wi-Fi built in throughout.

Occupiers

Zopa occupies 44,138 sq ft as the building’s largest office tenant, with JLL (38,800 sq ft, to March 2032) and life sciences occupier Kadans Science Partner (38,310 sq ft, to April 2038) also holding substantial space. Hireright Ltd and AviadoBio occupy smaller floors, alongside six further tenants. The mix of fintech, professional services and life sciences occupiers reflects Wood Wharf’s broader positioning as a more diverse district than the original estate.

Features

20 Water Street’s design draws on the site’s dock heritage, forming part of the first phase of Wood Wharf’s wider mixed-use development. Flexible lease terms are available direct from Canary Wharf Group, and the building’s life sciences tenant gives it a distinct identity within the wider Wood Wharf office stock.

Why businesses choose it

• London’s most recognisable office tower, with 35 lifts including three firefighting lifts and 24-hour access. It’s built for occupiers who need scale and continuous operation.
• Home to Level39, described as the world’s most connected tech community. It comprises over 1,250 leaders across fintech, cyber security and green tech with £795m invested into member companies to date.
• Recently refurbished levels 47 and 48 deliver some of the best views in London, part of Canary Wharf Group’s ongoing programme of upgrading the tower’s upper floors.
• Canary Wharf Group’s own managed workspace brand, MadeFor has leased 200,000 sq ft across this building and 40 Bank Street. It gives occupiers a flexible route into the tower without a traditional lease.

Occupiers

UCL School of Management anchors the building with 146,413 sq ft to February 2031, alongside:

• Fisher Investments (82,797 sq ft, to June 2030)
• Flexible workspace operator Fora (81,864 sq ft)
• BBVA (58,322 sq ft, to December 2031)
• Reach (55,972 sq ft, to June 2028)

A further 43 tenants occupy the remaining space, spanning education, financial services, media and flexible workspace. In short, One Canada Square is one of the most genuinely diverse multi-let buildings on the estate.

Features

Few buildings in London carry the same recognition as One Canada Square. For occupiers, that profile comes with genuine practical advantages. They benefit from continuous operation and an exceptionally diverse neighbouring occupier base. Not to mention direct access to Level39 and MadeFor if businesses want flexibility alongside a traditional lease.

Why businesses choose it

• Anchored by Thomson Reuters and LSEG, two of the most significant financial data occupiers in Canary Wharf, both committed on leases to October 2027.
• A large full-height atrium brings natural light deep into the floorplates, which is unusual for a building of this scale and era.
• Up to 122,313 sq ft of contiguous space available, split flexibly from 12,787 sq ft.
• A genuinely central position between North and South Colonnade, a few minutes’ walk from Canary Wharf Underground, DLR and the Elizabeth line.

Occupiers

Thomson Reuters occupies the largest share of the building, with LSEG also holding substantial space. Both are committed on leases running to October 2027, giving 5 Canada Square one of the more stable, long-dated occupancy profiles of any building in this guide.

Features

The building’s steel frame construction and full-height atrium were unusual for their time, and the covered parking (67 spaces) is a genuine practical advantage for senior teams. Its position at the centre of the estate, between the two Colonnades, is hard to match for occupiers who want to be at the heart of Canary Wharf.

Why businesses choose it

• A genuine landmark on Cabot Square, with a waterfront position and Grade A listed status that’s rare among Canary Wharf’s 1990s stock.
• The ground floor has become one of the estate’s most notable leisure destinations. It’s home to Fairgame, The Cocktail Club, Blacklock and Electric Shuffle among others.
• Typical floorplates of 51,694 sq ft are among the largest in this guide. They’re ideal for occupiers who need genuine scale on a single floor.
• A direct waterfront position at Cabot Square, with immediate access to Canary Wharf Underground and DLR stations.

Occupiers

The building’s leisure and dining occupiers (Fairgame, The Cocktail Club, Blacklock and Electric Shuffle) reflect Canary Wharf’s wider push to diversify its ground-floor offer beyond traditional retail. The upper office floors are currently being repositioned, which gives prospective occupiers an unusual opportunity. They can secure a substantial, single-let presence in a landmark waterfront building at a formative stage of its next chapter.

Features

10 Cabot Square shares its architect with One Canada Square and 5 Canada Square, giving it a design heritage that connects three of the estate’s most significant buildings. Combined with its ongoing repositioning, its waterfront position on Cabot Square makes it one of the more distinctive opportunities covered in this guide.

Key considerations

Canary Wharf offers a compelling combination of modern infrastructure and transport connectivity that few London submarkets can match. But it isn’t the right choice for every business, and the estate’s size means the differences between buildings (age, specification, rent and character) are more significant than they might appear from the outside. Understanding those differences is essential before committing to a shortlist.

The Elizabeth line has changed the connectivity calculation

Canary Wharf’s Elizabeth line connection puts Heathrow 45 minutes away and the City seven. For businesses whose teams travel widely, this has materially improved the estate’s competitive position against the West End and City. The same is true for those that need to attract talent from across London.

Canary Wharf offers scale that’s hard to match elsewhere in London

Typical floorplates across the buildings in this guide range from around 24,000 sq ft at 30 South Colonnade to over 51,000 sq ft at 10 Cabot Square. Additionally, One Canada Square can accommodate occupiers across hundreds of thousands of square feet in a single building. Businesses that need genuine scale on one or two floors will struggle to find equivalent options in the City or West End.

The estate’s amenity offer has changed considerably

Canary Wharf is no longer a place that empties out after work. Over 30 new restaurants have arrived in recent years, along with expanding hotel provision, new parks, waterside boardwalks and leisure activities. For businesses weighing Canary Wharf against the West End on amenity alone, the gap has narrowed significantly.

Rents span a wide range depending on building age and specification

Estimated rents in this guide run from around £35–46/sq ft in established 1990s and 2000s towers up to £59–62/sq ft at Wood Wharf’s newest buildings and £65–70/sq ft asking at One Canada Square’s best space. Almost all of these buildings sit within a few minutes’ walk of each other, so the gap reflects specification and age rather than location.

Alternative areas to Canary Wharf for office space

The City of London offers a comparable concentration of financial and professional services occupiers, with smaller floorplates on average but a longer-established reputation and marginally better connectivity to the West End.

To the north, Stratford offers newer building stock and strong transport via the Elizabeth line and Jubilee line, generally at lower rents than Canary Wharf. It’s an option for businesses that want modern space and good connectivity without the Canary Wharf address.

Further east, the Royal Docks and Greenwich Peninsula offer emerging office districts with significant new development. You get strong river and DLR connections, plus lower rents than Canary Wharf, but with a less established occupier base.

Elsewhere, London Bridge and Southwark offer a different kind of scale, with strong City and West End connectivity and a more varied mix of building ages and specifications.

Not settled on a location? Oktra’s London area guide compares the main submarkets by sector, character and cost.

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