Canada Water Library and Civic Square. Tower Bridge to Surrey Quays - stock photo

A journey from Tower Bridge to Surrey Quays unveils Piers Gough celebrated library building. Built next to the civic square overlooking the South Dock Marina, the library has the appearance of an inverted pyramid, clad in bronzed aluminium. Travelling from Tower Bridge to Surrey Quays reveals a largely residential area of Rotherhithe in south-east London, occupied until 1970 by the Surrey Commercial Docks. After the closure of the Surrey docks, the area remained derelict for over a decade, with much of the warehousing demolished and over 90% of the docks filled in. In 1981, a massive building program took place in the area with 5,500 new homes being built, ranging from individual detached housing to large apartment complexes, such as Baltic Quay. South Dock was converted into a marina - now the largest in London - and a sailing facility (named Surrey Docks Watersports Centre) was constructed on Greenland Dock. The northern part of Canada Water and the infilled Russia Dock became wildlife reserves.