World’s First Flower Vending Machine Opens in London Tube Station

New Zealand-born film production designer Andrew McAlpine has launched Rockflower, the world’s first flower retail and vending kiosk on the forecourt of London’s Blackfriars Underground station.

Trading has been going very well so far, says Rockflower founder and CEO McAlpine – with the 24-hour opening particularly popular with late-night commuters in need of a bouquet for their return home, according to daily business newspaper City A.M. The ‘flowers at all hours’ kiosk is part of Transport for London’s efforts to get more retailers using the Tube.

The Elam School of Fine Arts MFA graduate has long had a dream of people being able to buy a beautifully designed, affordable, flower bouquet 24/7. McAlpine gained fame for his work as a production designer of Sid and Nancy directed by Alex Cox; The Piano directed by Jane Campion, for which he won an AFI and Bafta award; Clockers directed by Spike Lee; The Beach, directed by Danny Boyle; An Education, directed by Lone Schwerwig; and Dean Spanley, directed by Tao Fraser. In addition to the 35 films he has designed, McAlpine has designed television commercials and music videos, as well as collaborating with other artists such as Juan Munoz at the Tate Modern, London, architects Branson and Coates with whom he created Journey through The Body for the Millennium Dome in London, and architects Waind Gohil Assos and ByBox who helped develop Rockflower.