Battersea Power Station open day
It seems as though someone proposes a new harebrained scheme an ambitious new regeneration project for Battersea Power Station every few years. The latest plans for the redevelopment of the power station are still at the pre-planning application stage, but this month the site is open to the public as part of the promotion/consultation for the project. The rare opportunity to get up close and personal with Battersea Power Station was just too good to miss, so we toddled over there on Saturday morning.
The Consultation Suite contains plans, models and videos of the proposed development, as well as exhibits about the history of the power station. The plans are certainly ambitious; in addition to the usual offices, shopping centre and housing, the £4bn scheme includes a 300m tall chimney that forms part of a giant “EcoDome”.
The plan is for the EcoDome to cover the commercial space behind the power station and regulate its temperature without electricity by expelling warm air and drawing down cool air through the giant chimney. To be fair to the developers, REO Ltd and Treasury Holdings UK, the plans do seem to be making more than a token effort to make the project more sustainable, including:
- Providing drinking water from an on-site borehole
- Providing non-drinking water from rainwater and grey water
- Using the river to transport goods onto site
- Producing energy from wind, solar and non-food source bio-fuel
- Exporting excess energy to the National Grid.
- The long term aim of zero carbon emissions and independence from public electricity and water supplies.
OK, I’ll stop listing their apparent green credentials, as they have a PR company for that BS.
Anyway, having completed the feedback questionnaire and “we won’t sue you if we’re hit by falling masonry” disclaimer, we were free to wander around the site’s designated path.
Unfortunately the weather was atrocious, with a cold wind and driving rain which, combined with the flat lighting, meant conditions were far from being ideal for photography.
Nevertheless, with careful positioning of our brolly we managed to take a few dozen shots, albeit with much wiping of the lens.
It’s not until you get up close to the building that you appreciate (a) quite how big it it, and (b) what a mammoth task the restoration is going to be (Battersea Power Station is listed as one of the World Monuments Fund’s 100 Most Endangered Sites). For starters, the concrete of the four chimneys is so corroded that they will have to be taken apart and reconstructed afresh. It’s estimated that it will cost £150m just to stop the building deteriorating any further.
First stop was at Turbine Hall A, the original turbine hall on the west side of the building (the second turbine hall was added in the early 1950s). Apparently it was once panelled with Italian marble, but sadly its original Art Deco fittings are long gone.
The land surrounding the power station is pretty much empty, save for the odd spoil heap and a couple of the old cranes which I imagine would once have transferred coal from the boats supplying the site with fuel.
The main central section of the power station, the old Boiler House, is little more than a shell (its roof was taken off in the late 1980s to allow the removal of machinery). Although Battersea Power Station is the largest brick building in Europe, the brickwork is effectively cladding as it actually hangs from a steel frame. Whether the girders that are visible inside the Boiler House are part of the original structure, or supports added more recently, I don’t know.
The Boiler House marked the end of the route, so we retraced our steps back to the entrance. Thanks to the foul weather, we were almost the only other visitors wandering around the site. On the way back, we did speak to a friendly woman who was photographing her young daughter in front of the building, and she was kind enough to take a few photos of us with my camera.
After leaving Battersea, it was only fitting that we headed east to another of Giles Gilbert Scott’s landmark buildings, Bankside Power Station a.k.a. the Tate modern, to warm up with a hot drink.
I have to say it was great to be able to get so close to such an amazing building. We’re planning to return to Battersea Power Station later in the month, when hopefully the weather will be less autumnal and allows us to linger and take some better photographs.
As for the proposed redevelopment, I’ve got mixed feelings. It’s certainly good that they’re putting real emphasis on the site being sustainable, but I think placing a giant 1000ft tall “chimney” right next to such a beautiful, iconic landmark is just plain wrong. The power station is a massive structure, but it needs breathing room; in these new plans, it’s just dwarfed by the rather ugly chimney and dome.
Of course, that’s largely irrelevant as I can’t imagine the developers securing the funding for such an enormous project, especially in the present economic climate. As Pink Floyd and The Simpson have proved, you’re more likely to see a flying pig at Battersea Power Station than a successful regeneration scheme.
You don’t need to book to visit the Battersea Power Station site, which is open to the public every Saturday in August, from 10am – 5pm. The entrance is off Kirtling St, which is about a ten minute stroll from Battersea Park train station.
Hi Dave, this is fascinating! I used to live in Pimlico and see it most days especially on walks to Battersea Park but we could of course never go in – so it’s great to know that we can visit it this month.
Curiously, this last weekend, we were at Tate Modern and saying how fab that they had convertedt this industrial space into an art gallery and wondering when anything was ever going to happen for redeveloping Battersea Power Station. Synchronicity?
i recommend you send me the planing of the battersea powere station because it is part of my study to deseign a power station. and i will appreciate if you give me an idea how to creat a power station deseign for my degree.
and i can add ideas to the new deseign.
thank you in advance.