Family-friendly Canary Wharf

TRADITIONALLY, Canary Wharf’s housing market has been characterised by singles and childless couples living in swish flats near the office towers. Most owners and renters move away when they want to start a family, citing the absence of good local schools and child-friendly facilities as a prime reason.

Aspen at Consort Place, a so-called “vertical village” of 496 homes, aims to reverse this trend by offering amenities designed specifically for families in the Covid-19 era. Aspen Family Club on the first floor provides a games room and play areas to help parents juggling home working and childcare, while a landscaped square at the foot of the 65-storey tower has a health centre, education space, community hall, shops, restaurants and cafés.

Higher up the tower is a spa plus a gym, a pool and a sky bar where parents can chill out, and there’s a business suite, screening room and private dining room, too. A second, linked tower is a new hotel offering Aspen residents a range of services.

Much is being made of the main tower’s elegant sculptural form — a slender “three-petal” design that creates six corners and gives apartments fabulous double-aspect views. All homes come with high-speed fibre optic cabling for Zoom meetings. Prices start at £554,500. Call 020 7718 5202.

While this part of Docklands is unlikely to become a Nappy Valley, the local council is encouraging more families to settle by granting permission for more houses and by emphasising the district’s virtues as a clean, safe environment with a surprising array of recreational and educational facilities for toddlers and teenagers, from numerous water sports to an urban farm and a Museum of London outpost.

From £563,000: flats with stunning views at Aspen at Consort Place in Canary Wharf. The 65-storey “vertical village” has a family club with play areas. There’s also a gym, pool and sky bar, and a landscaped square at the foot of the block with health centre and shops