Located below and to the west of Blackfriars Bridge is a new riverside public space called Bazalgette Embankment. With an area of around an acre, it is the largest single structure built into the River Thames in around 150 years.
Tideway aimed to create a world-class area of public realm here for Londoners and visitors to the capital to enjoy new views of the river and to come together for casual meetings or formal events.
The site provides significant landscaping - planting included 71 trees as well as shrubs, grasses and herbaceous plants and ferns. It also gives a direct opportunity to engage with water via a ‘waterwall’ which is part of the site’s public art. An undercroft area near the bridge includes public toilets and commercial spaces.
There is level access to and across the space and varied seating caters for different needs, including space provision at the end of benches to allow wheelchair users to sit alongside. The granite paving provides a consistent smooth surface across the space and the ramped areas ensure that the majority of the viewing platforms are accessible.
The Thames Path has been significantly enhanced, with the narrow, constrained 1960s series of paths and ramps transformed into a clear and accessible route. It has a generous width of 4m and places to pause and enjoy the new visual connection with the river (east of the bridge the path is 3m wide, due to the proximity of the bridge).
The new Blackfriars Pier and the installation of a new lift to the east of Blackfriars Bridge also means that the site and the wider area are also now fully accessible by boat.
The existing listed sturgeon lamp standards and Lions head mooring rings at Blackfriars Embankment were carefully removed, stored and repaired and then reinstated as the space was completed.
The new public art on Bazalgette Embankment is ‘Stages’ by Nathan Coley - five sculptures which frame views to and from the river and create focal points within the space. They range from 4m to 9m high and include a ‘water wall’. The sculptures are bespoke concrete with a black aggregate (basalt/quartz) to achieve a surface that appears monolithic.
The ventilation columns feature poems by Dorothea Smartt relating to the area’s history and lost River Fleet.
In May 2025 the space was visited by His Majesty The King to mark the completion of the tunnel and meet members of the project’s workforce.
