Located on the rooftop of Temple tube station, the Artist’s Garden is a free open-air art exhibition site overlooking the River Thames.
Opening in 2021, the large, flat 1,400 square metre site is part of the Victoria Embankment and just a short walk away from the wonderful
Lives Less Ordinary: Working-Class Britain Re-seen exhibition.
More info
The Artist’s Garden
On the roof of Temple tube station
London, WC2R 2PH
Opening Hours: Open daily, 8am – dusk.
FREE and OPEN TO ALL. Please note the site is only accessible via steps.
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About The Artist’s Garden
The Artist’s Garden transformed a 1,400 sqm hidden and neglected roof terrace above Temple tube station into a place for the public to experience large-scale life-affirming artistic interventions by women artists.
A popular public open barrier-free destination for the contemplation and appreciation of the power of sculptural interventions by women artists, its 85 metres of river frontage offers extensive views and a vibrant programme of artist commissions, residencies in the Artist’s Hut and an education programme for 13-16-year-olds
Site history
The roof terrace is part of the Victoria Embankment, a bold reclamation of land beside the Thames conceived and built by Sir Joseph Bazalgette between 1865–1870 to resolve the ‘Great Stink’.
This feat of Victorian engineering turned muddy foreshores into public spaces, with roads and walkways overhead, and tunnels for trains, water and waste beneath.
Also thought to be on the site of the seventeenth century garden of Lord and Lady Arundel, who together collected England’s first great classical sculpture collection.
Visitors would have alighted from the Thames and walked through the garden to Arundel House, situated next to Somerset House and the other great palaces of the Strand.
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