Client Canary Wharf Group is designing and constructing the station for a fixed price of £500m.

It will be one of the first sites to commence construction on the £15.9bn Crossrail scheme.

Above the Isle of Dogs Station will be around 100,000 sq ft of retail space designed by Foster + Partners and a roof-top park and community facility designed by Gillespies.

The station box is expected to be completed by summer 2012, with the first Crossrail passenger trains planned to run in 2017, and a full service building up over the following 12 months.