Bankside is a district in the London Borough of Southwark. It's positioned around the southern bank of the River Thames, 1.5 miles east of Charing Cross. It's a part of the business improvement district generally known as Better Bankside.
Bankside is the riverside of the former liberties of the Clink and Paris Garden. Through the Elizabethan period, these areas were out of the City of London’s jurisdiction so they became the homes of bear baiting pits and playhouses, which includes the Rose, the Swan and the Globe Theatre. There has been lots of regeneration in recent years, becoming well-liked with tourists. The skyline of Bankside is accentuated by the former Bankside Power Station, that is now the Tate Modern.
The Bankside 1/2/3 complex on Southwark Street is the most important new development inside the district. The 3 buildings house around 5,000 employees. Bankside 1 is also generally known as the Blue Fin Building and it is partially occupied by IPC Media, while Bankside Two and 3 are occupied by the Omnicom Group Ltd.
From 2010, many improvement schemes have transformed Blackfriars Road from the bridge towards the south at St. George’s Circus and new buildings stand in place of post-World War II offices. These buildings are residential and hotel accommodation along its length, especially at the junction with Stamford Street where a lot of high rises have been built.