Dezeen News: the new owners of Battersea Power Station say their £8bn revamp of the site will begin in 2013, ending more than 25 years of speculation over the future of the London landmark.
Earlier this week a consortium of Malaysian investors, comprising developers SP Setia and Sime Darby plus the Employees Provident Fund pension fund, completed its £400m purchase of the site.
The redevelopment is set to include 3400 new homes, a shopping centre, hotels, offices and an arts space. During the work, the power station's four white towers will also be removed and rebuilt using new materials. The first phase is intended to be complete within four years.
Situated on the south bank of the river Thames, the power station was built in two parts, the first completed in the 1930s and the second in the 1950s. It famously appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock film 'Sabotage' and on the cover of the Pink Floyd album 'Animals', and is now a Grade II* listed landmark.
Since ceasing electricity generation in 1983, the power station has largely remained vacant as developers have repeatedly failed to bring their proposals to fruition. Most recently, Chelsea Football Club was unsuccessful in its bid to turn the power station into a 60,000-capacity stadium.
In 2008, architect Rafael Viñoly put forward plans for a sustainable development to include a 300 metre high tower and 'eco-dome', while British architect Terry Farrell later unveiled proposals to remove the walls of the power station and turn it into a park.
I`m from Chile and I think that is one of the most incredible buildings that I’ve ever seen, and I don’t understand how is possible to destroy that monument with this terrible project… bad for London.
Fingers crossed something actually happens this time!
PLEASE LEAVE THE BUILDING ALONE. Better not doing anything than this awful condominium.
Oh come on, it looks beautiful, building itself looks great, they even left that open front so that it’s still visible, and they´ll reuse the old structure, what else can they do? :P Leave the whole space empty?
I personally think the layout shown here enhances the view of the plant. It doesn’t compete with it, in fact it makes it its centerpiece.
Well, looks pretty intact to me in that proposal, though it would definitely look quite different on the inside :D Remember seeing that proposal years ago. Glad it’s going forward.
I’m hoping that the renovations include suspending a giant inflatable pig between two of those chimneys.
Well, the original building is amazing! But what is actually going on with the surrounding architecture? It seems irrelevant to the site – not only irrelevant but aggressive too. I’d prefer a more subtle approach around such a great building!
Someone PLEASE take the clients to Tate Modern, they obviously don’t ‘get it’. Looks like a proposal for Hotel IBIS or Travel Lodge.
^^^ THIS. Exactly this. The surrounding building cramp the power station too much. Its majesty is lost in all but one view from across the river :(
Sad to see how Ameica exports so well the worst of it’s lifestyle (fast food, malls) to the point that Malaysian investors are making it theirs. Even much sadder to see how London is letting this incredible landmark be drowned in condo/mall complex. I lived in London for years, and at some point drove past the power station daily, always in awe, still can’t pass it without being touched…
Has no one here heard of London's dire housing crisis?!
Benjamin, do you trawl websites writing the same comment anytime somebody comments on the design of the residential built environment? I see the same comment from you relating to various schemes.
This is a website concerned with design. Design is about solving problems. London’s primary problem is its dire housing shortage which threatens brain-drain and social unrest. The primary function of modern urban architecture is to house people/businesses, not to decorate the streetscape for the light entertainment of middle-class students. So please could we have some comments beyond the lazy and juvenile nostalgic Nimby nonsense so far displayed?
Short-lived building that left such a landmark and impact on London’s landscape. I just hope the new development will respect it and won’t hide it from the view by high surrounding buildings.
I'm not sure why the Malaysian EPF is putting money into this. I understand why Sime Darby and SP Setia would, being private companies (but still heavily government linked). But money from the EPF seems better invested domestically. Malaysia might be a developing country, but its is still a giant mess of a country. I'm Malaysian, I would know…
Well guess who's getting a penthouse suite?