Bankside is a district in the London Borough of Southwark. It is positioned around the southern bank of the River Thames, 2.4 km east of Charing Cross. It is a part of the business improvement district known as Better Bankside.
Bankside is the riverside of the former liberties of the Clink and Paris Garden. For the duration of 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, including the Rose, the Swan and the Globe Theatre. There has been a good deal of regeneration in recent years, becoming popular with tourists. The skyline of Bankside is accentuated by the former Bankside Power Station, which is now the Tate Modern.
The Bankside 1/2/3 complex on Southwark Street is the most major new development in the district. The 3 buildings house about 5,000 staff. Bankside 1 is also generally known as the Blue Fin Building and it is partially occupied by IPC Media, whilst Bankside Two and Three are occupied by the Omnicom Group Ltd.
From 2010, quite a few development schemes have transformed Blackfriars Road from the bridge to 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, in particular at the junction with Stamford Street exactly where plenty of high rises happen to be constructed.