Reflection Garden at 25 Cannon Street, including Rooftop Garden

This was once close to the site of St John the Evangelist Church, destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 and not rebuilt. Following severe bomb damage in the area during WWII, the site was built over with the Bank of America House in 1952. When the 5-storey neo-classical office building, 25 Cannon Street, was built in [1990], the private garden area was laid out in 2000 by Robert Myers Associates. Although private, the garden was open to the public and had a large lawn, surrounded by shrubbery and trees, bounded by stone walls. On the external north wall of the garden is a monument with a bronze bust of Admiral Arthur Phillip that commemorates the discovery and fixing of the site of Sydney, Australia on 23 January 1788 and the formal founding of Australia on 26 January. Two sides of the stone monument have bronze plaques showing HMS Supply arriving in the bay, and the formal founding of Sydney by the officers on board. The bust was originally installed on a wall at St Mildred’s Church in 1932, but the church was destroyed in WW2. The bust and plaques were later re-erected as a free standing monument in 1968.

The neo-classical building of 2000 was substantially refurbished in 2020  by architects Buckley Grey Yeoman in a development by real estate company Pembroke, and provides high-quality office space, with the majority of the space assigned to global law firm Dechert. In line with the City Corporation’s Climate Action Strategy, sustainability was central to 25 Cannon Street’s redesign: 'The building will be able to operate on renewable power and targets the highest energy efficiency rating, while embodied carbon emissions were reduced throughout the construction process. Thanks to the public garden and new roof terrace, the Urban Greening Factor has been raised from 0.29 to 0.49.' (Press Release) 

Planning permission for a new public garden was granted to Pembroke in 2000, and the Reflection Garden opened on 7 July 2022. It is located opposite St Paul’s Cathedral (q.v.), on the site of the earlier garden fronting 25 Cannon Street. The new garden has a large oval reflection pool as its focal point, that mirrors the sky and surrounding buildings, most significantly the come of St Paul's, in its water. The project was a collaboration between the City of London Corporation, Pembroke and landscape designer Tom Stuart-Smith, who worked with water feature specialist Andrew Ewing. Existing trees were retained while new shrubs and understory planting give round-year interest and ground coverage. The design incorporates seasonal planting that will respond to changing climate conditions and flowering species, with bird and bat boxes and insect hotels to improve biodiversity.

On the rooftop of 25 Cannon Street a small private garden has been created, planted in contemporary raised beds, Overlooking St Paul's Cathedral, this rooftop space is planted in contemporary raised beds and demonstrates the versatility of a corporate urban space, using many herbaceous plants and grasses. The high level urban greening forms part of the City’s biodiversity green corridor, which stretches from the Barbican gardens in the north to the river in the south. It showcases the importance not only of creating beautiful planted spaces, but also of providing essential habitats for wildlife within our City buildings.