Roots in the Sky

Portfolio project

A workplace with nature at its highest point.

Roots in the Sky is a radical reimagining of the former Blackfriars Crown Court: a 430,000 sq ft, net-zero, next-generation workspace designed to bring nature, work, and community together in the heart of London’s South Bank. The project is set to become London’s first office building with an urban rooftop forest; a 1.4-acre landscape of 125 established trees and over 10,000 plants. More than an amenity, the forest becomes the building’s defining idea: a living civic space above the city. Designed with generous volumes, adaptable floor plates, and extensive shared spaces, Roots in the Sky responds to a new understanding of what office life should be.

Community gardens, public access, neighbourhood uses, hospitality, wellness, and green terraces turn the building into a place for more than work; a place for people, nature, and culture to meet. The landscape, designed by Harris Bugg Studio, exceeds urban forest criteria, providing canopy cover, rainwater capture, biodiversity, and new habitats for wildlife across London. It is a building with environmental ambition, but also human ambition: to create a healthier, more open, more connected way of working. Our brand identity captures this vision through a simple idea; nature and culture growing together. A visual language for a workplace that looks up, opens out, and points toward a more generous future.