Tideway opens new public spaces along the Thames

A look at Tideway shows how a costly drainage project also creates public spaces and art along the river.

London's £4.6bn super sewer reshapes the Thames riverside

A group of colossal black blocks has appeared along the Thames near Blackfriars Bridge. Rising almost 10 metres, they resemble mysterious stone monoliths and form the most visible part of London’s Tideway project, a £4.6bn super sewer designed to stop 18 million tonnes of sewage from overflowing into the river each year. The slabs also mark the creation of seven new public spaces along a 25-kilometre stretch from Putney to Deptford, totaling more than three acres of park like ground with trees, benches and artworks.

Architects describe the spaces as a blend of landscape and engineering. The tall ventilation shafts, which look like ship funnels, provide a signature skyline and carry poetry inscribed on their surfaces. The design aims to return public space to a project that many see as hidden infrastructure. Yet the project has faced questions over cost and delays, and some critics worry about whether the public will gain real value for money. Some parts remain unfinished and access rules can limit how the river is experienced, such as steps that end at a flood barrier rather than a shoreline.

The Tideway project sits at a tricky crossroads where utility and culture collide. It treats a sprawling engineering scheme as a platform for public life, a move that is as bold as it is controversial. Critics call it screw fixation, a clash of catalogued needs and city scale that can feel disjointed. Still, the choice to turn a sewer into a riverfront is a narrative shift for London, proposing infrastructure as memory and space rather than merely pipes.

Public art and architectural details offer a legible identity for a project many residents will not see until it opens. The result is a mix of beauty and bureaucracy, where the same vent shafts that drain waste also frame city life. The mood remains cautious: if the spaces succeed in inviting everyday use, Tideway may justify the cost; if not, the project risks becoming another expensive rumor of grand plans that never fully serve the public.

Highlights

Infrastructure that listens to the public could outlast the money spent building it