‘Metal box gardens’ have sprung up in Bankside as part of a project encouraging people to walk through quieter routes with cleaner air.
Better Bankside, the not-for-profit Business Improvement District, has launched the first phase of its Clean Air Mini Neighbourhood project.
As part of phase one of the project, specially commissioned planted skips were installed in America Street.
Kings College London is working with the project team to evaluate how successful the project is in reducing peoples’ exposure to air pollution.
The metal box gardens are situated close to the Metal Box Factory, an old Victorian warehouse which used to make decorative tin boxes and is now home to more than 100 small businesses and restaurants.
Phase two of the project will focus on transforming the historic Keppel Row alleyway into a verdant pedestrian thoroughfare linking Southwark Bridge Road and Great Guildford Street.