The security guard at The Post Building Roof Garden says I shouldn’t call it a hidden gem as they are seeing more visitors. But, after discussing numbers, it’s still very low in comparison to other viewing platforms and it would be unusual to arrive here and find it too full to accept more people.
The Post Building Roof Garden is free-to-visit and you don’t need to book a ticket. It’s on the ninth floor of a building near Holborn and is the largest roof terrace in the West End of London.
The Post Building?
Look Up London has a useful history of the postal service connection to the building. You can also see the information boards in the Reception. It had been a 1960s post office sorting office and there was even a Mail Rail stop here. It has been refurbished and The Post Building is now modern offices plus retail and restaurant space.
The Rooftop Garden
The 7,500 sq ft rooftop garden is on staggered levels and you’ll get the best views from the top. There are steps or a lift for the extra height. The planting is mostly grasses in large planters.
The space has been imagined by AHMM as part-English country garden, part-cruise liner deck. The ‘bow’ of the space juts out looking northwest along New Oxford Street. About half of the area is private for the building’s tenants but there is enough space on the public side for good views.
As there are few high-rise buildings in the West End, the views are impressive. Look out to the north for Bloomsbury with this line-up of Nicholas Hawksmoor’s St George’s Bloomsbury in the foreground, with the green dome of the British Museum and the tower of Charles Holden’s Senate House behind that.
From here you can also see BT Tower to the left and St Pancras Renaissance Hotel to the right.
Move round and you can also St Paul’s Cathedral and The City of London, Canary Wharf, The Shard and the London Eye.
Cafe
I didn’t see one (and it’s not so large a rooftop garden that I didn’t see it all) and was told food and drink wasn’t allowed.
Toilets
Again, I didn’t see them but I’m told they are available including a disabled toilet.
Admission
The Post Building Rooftop Garden is free to visit and you do not need to book a ticket.
Enter the double doors and speak to the Security Guard/Receptionist. They need to see a Photo ID so don’t forget that. Your name and time of arrival are noted on a signing-in sheet.
You are asked to read a set of rules and agree to them (nothing to worry about) and then you walk through an airport-type scanner. Bags are checked in an x-ray scanner machine.
Then it’s a lift to the ninth floor and you’re there.
Address
The Post Building Roof Garden is located at 110 New Oxford Street, London WC1A 1BD. The nearest Tube stations are Holborn and Tottenham Court Road.
Look Up London has a useful photo of the entrance.
Opening Hours
The garden is open seven days a week from 10am to 7pm (or dusk if earlier).
As Ian Visits points out, as part of the planning approval for the conversion to offices, the roof terrace has to be free for the public to visit for the next 20 years every day (except 25th/26th Dec) between 10am to 7pm (or dusk if earlier). However, there is a clause that allows the developers to reduce the rooftop garden’s opening hours once a year if we don’t make good use of it.
You won’t need long to long to visit (up to 30 mins) so combine your trip to the area with a visit to the British Museum or Outernet London. Or shopping on Oxford Street.
More High Viewing Platforms
See also, Horizon 22, The Lookout, The Garden at 120 and the Sky Garden.