Timber Logic, Tower Living: A New Identity for Wood Wharf

Friday 24 April 2026

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Director
GRID Architects

Timber Logic, Tower Living: A New Identity for Wood Wharf

Laurence Osborn of GRID architects explores how Wood Wharf’s 50–60 Charter Street rethinks high-rise living through a layered façade, low-carbon materials and more flexible, community-focused homes. This piece previews themes from NLA’s upcoming London Tall Buildings Survey.

As London’s skyline continues to evolve, tall buildings are being asked to do more than define the city’s profile. They must also support more liveable, adaptable and socially connected forms of urban life – a key theme explored through NLA’s Tall Buildings programme.

Along the edge of Wood Wharf, where the dock meets an ever-changing skyline, 50–60 Charter Street starts from a simple question: how do you give a tall building a sense of identity while also creating a place people genuinely want to live?

Rising to 34 and 49 storeys, these two residential towers take a quieter approach. Instead of bold gestures, they lean on rhythm, material, and the way a building is experienced in motion – especially from the dockside. The result is an architecture shaped as much by perception as by form, grounded in the idea of a more liveable vertical community.

Grounding the Towers

At ground level, the towers are anchored by a two-storey brick base that feels solid and deliberate, helping the building sit comfortably within its waterfront setting.

A glazed pavilion cuts through the centre, drawing a clear line from Charter Street to the water. It’s more than just an entrance – it’s a moment of connection, bringing movement, visibility, and shared space into the heart of the scheme.

Around it, retail units and active frontages contribute to the wider energy of Wood Wharf, reinforcing the relationship between the towers and the public realm.

A Façade Inspired by Industry

Higher up, the façade takes its cue from the site’s past as a hub for timber trading. Rather than referencing it directly, the design abstracts the idea of stacked timber into a layered composition that changes as you move around it.

The system is based on a series of unitised panels arranged in two-storey modules. Subtle offsets introduce a gentle rhythm across the elevation, creating depth without heavy articulation.

Material plays a key role. Lighter elements read as a structural grid, while darker tones recede, giving the façade a sense of layering. Vertical fins add variation, allowing the towers to shift in appearance depending on viewpoint and helping to humanise their scale within the skyline.

Efficiency underpins this approach. The façade uses ultra-low carbon aluminium, while repetition and standardisation reduce waste and support precise construction. This extends to the wider structure, which incorporates recycled concrete aggregate and ECOPact Concrete v2.0 to reduce embodied carbon.

Designing for a Vertical Community

If the façade defines how the building looks, it also shapes how it’s lived in.

Designed in 2020, the project responded to changing expectations of home, with greater emphasis on flexibility and usable internal space.

In response, the design moves away from private balconies. At height, these are often underused. Instead, that space is brought inside, creating larger, more adaptable homes that better support everyday life, including working from home.

Full-height glazing maximises daylight and views, maintaining a strong connection to the outside. Outdoor amenity is redistributed into shared spaces – dockside routes, public realm and a residents’ terrace – offering a more social and usable alternative that supports interaction and a stronger sense of community.

50–60 Charter Street shows that identity does not need to come from bold form-making. It can emerge through consistency, restraint, and careful attention to how a building is made and experienced.

By rethinking both façade and living space – while embedding more sustainable construction methods – it reflects a broader shift in priorities. As expectations of high-rise living continue to evolve, the challenge is not only how tall buildings perform, but how they support a more connected and liveable form of vertical community.

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Laurence Osborn

Director
GRID Architects