Corner Corner may be London's most unique destination yet

(Image credit: Photography by Sophia J Carey)

In what was once the beating heart of London's timber trade, a sprawling new recreational space has opened under the name of Corner Corner. Part of the Canada Water Masterplan, a regeneration initiative led by British Land and AustralianSuper, the multi-faceted destination combines food, culture, live music and sustainable agriculture under one sweeping roof.

Discover Corner Corner, a dynamic new destination in Canada Water

Behind the dynamic conceptualisation of Corner Corner is Broadwick, a London and New York-based firm specialised in design, development, and operations across a wide-ranging cultural portfolio, which includes venues like Drumsheds, The Pelligon and former Printworks. At its core, Broadwick seeks to breathe new life into urban spaces through adaptive and community-centric designs.

‘We wanted to create something radically different,’ says Alex Sprogis, the architect from Broadwick who overraw the project. ‘We tasked ourselves with creating something educational, enriching, accessible and family-friendly.’

The 55,000 sq ft building appears like a shed, in keeping with the area's once-industrial past. The Broadwick design team selected a leafy green hue as the primary colour for Corner Corner's interior and exterior and embraced a palette of natural timber throughout, another nod to the site's history as a storage pond for imported Canadian timber. Meanwhile, an immersive, colour-changing display in the vertical farm—the largest of its kind in London—casts a pinkish-white glow.

Kerb, the organisation responsible for Seven Dials Market, has curated the dining experience, which emphasises fresh, locally-grown produce sourced from the indoor vertical farm, developed by Harvest London. In the future, the crops will supply other restaurants outside the property.

Visitors can choose from a wide array of restaurants at Corner Corner, including Sireli, an all-day café and restaurant open seven days a week that's focused on Armenian small plates and flatbreads. Meanwhile, a rotating cast of culinary residents operates from Thursday to Sunday, featuring fried chicken shop Chick‘N’Sours, Mexican eatery Masa Taco and Jou Jou’s Bites, which dishes up Taiwanese rice bowls and bao buns.

You can also get your fill of music at Corner Corner via a rotating line-up of DJs spinning a mix of jazz, funk, soul and disco on Thursday evenings, alongside live jazz performances and ticketed shows every Friday and Saturdays. For its character, Sprogis, the architect, drew inspiration from the intimate café settings of the ‘cool jazz’ period of the 1950s and '60s, cladding the bar and stage with Douglas Fir panels.

‘The space is designed to be highly flexible with the use of floor-to-ceiling curtains as space dividers, greatly varying the sense of intimacy or openness and allowing the light from the farm to be closed off if required for events and performances,’ adds Sprogis.

Corner Corner is located at Maritime St, London SE16 7LL, UK; cornercorner.com

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Sofia de la Cruz is the Travel Editor at Wallpaper*. A self-declared flâneuse, she feels most inspired when taking the role of a cultural observer – chronicling the essence of cities and remote corners through their nuances, rituals, and people. Her work lives at the intersection of art, design, and culture, often shaped by conversations with the photographers who capture these worlds through their lens.