A ventilation and access shaft for the Elizabeth line at Canning Town has been covered in purple wildflowers, supplied by the same firm that laid out the wildflower meadows for the London 2012 Olympics.

The concrete box which will offer access to the tunnels for maintenance, and if needed, emergencies, is being landscaped into a covered mound of soil. To make it rather more interesting, a load of wildflowers from Hampshire commuted to London for planting.

The wildflower meadow supplied by Wildflower Turf is now capping a maintenance and escape shaft for the Elizabeth line on the Limmo Peninsula.

Working with landscaping partner Turney Landscapes, Wildflower Turf Ltd was commissioned by CSJV – the Costain Skanska Joint Venture responsible for the turning the former construction site into the permanent Elizabeth line access shaft – to provide a temporary landscape that is both aesthetically pleasing and ecologically-friendly.

Turney Landscapes installed 2,600m² of Wildflower Turf’s Roof Turf in March and April of this year, across and down the sloping 8-metre-high exit shaft. The purple blanket has somewhat faded now, but expect an annual flowering of purple each spring.

The Limmo peninsula was Crossrail’s primary worksite for their eastbound tunnel boring machines. Two shafts were dug, one to be filled in again later and one that will be the permanent access and ventilation shaft.