New building hopes to get Canning Town gardening with rooftop allotments

Rooftop allotments (Image: Archant)

The distinctive red Vermilion building in Barking Road, Canning Town, hopes to prove its green credentials with 35 plots that are suitable for a variety of plants, vegetables, herbs, salads, and flowers to rent for £150 a year.

Developers English Cities Fund joined forces with volunteers from Canning Town Caravanserai, which runs a community project in Silvertown Way, to get the 3m squared allotments ready for when the new residents move in to the building.

Amy Rene, from Canning Town Caravanserai, said: “We’re passionate about gardening and helping people to use every available space to grow their own produce and live more sustainably.

“It’s fantastic that the residents here at Vermilion will have the chance to do just that with these allotments and, being on the roof, they get an amazing view while they’re digging and planting.”

The raised beds will be fed rainwater harvested from the roof of the building which is also home to a self-sustaining eco-garden featuring a rainwater-fed pond and a living wall to screen out noise and pollution from the A13.

Resident Lizzie Bowen, 62, who moved into the area from North Harrow, north London, three weeks ago, added: “We’ve come from a house with a big garden and I would like somewhere to grow something of my own.

“I’m very keen to get involved with the community and this could be a good way of getting to know people.

“It was lovely to meet the ladies from the Caravanserai and I’d like to find out more about their project and go along to see what they are growing.”