Battersea Power Station
Encyclopedia
Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station
located on the south bank of the River Thames
, in Battersea
, South
London
. The station comprises two individual power stations, built in two stages in the form of a single building. Battersea A Power Station was built first in the 1930s, with Battersea B Power Station to its east in the 1950s. The two stations were built to an identical design, providing the well known four-chimney layout. The station ceased generating electricity in 1983, but over the past 50 years it has become one of the best known landmarks in London and is Grade II* listed. The station's celebrity owes to numerous cultural appearances
, which include a shot in The Beatles'
1965 movie Help!
, and being used in the cover art of Pink Floyd
's 1977 album Animals. In addition, a photograph of the plant's control room was used as cover art on Hawkwind
's 1977 album Quark, Strangeness and Charm
.
Since closure the site has remained largely unused, with numerous failed redevelopment plans from successive site owners. The site is currently owned by Irish company Real Estate Opportunities (REO), who purchased it for £400 million in November 2006. In November 2010, REO was granted permission to refurbish the station for public use and build 3,400 homes across the site.
The station is the largest brick building in Europe and is notable for its original, lavish Art Deco
interior fittings and decor. However, the building's condition has been described as "very bad" by English Heritage
, who include the power station on its Buildings at Risk Register. In 2004, while the redevelopment project was stalled, and the building remained derelict, the site was listed on the 2004 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund
. The combination of an existing debt burden of approximately £750 million, the need to make a £200 million contribution to a proposed extension to the London Underground, requirements to fund conservation of the derelict power station shell and the presence of a waste transfer station and cement plant on the river frontage make a commercial development of the site a significant challenge. As of December 2011, the latest proposals to develop the site collapsed with the debt called in and the scheme faced being taken in administration at the High Court on 12 December.
. They planned to heed parliament's recommendations and build a small number of very large stations.
The London Power Company's first of these super power stations was planned for the Battersea
area, on the south bank of the River Thames
in London
. The proposal for the station was made in 1927, for a station built in two stages, capable of generating 400,000 kilowatts (kW) of electricity once completed. The site chosen for the construction of the station was a 15 acres (60,702.9 m²) plot of land which had been the site of the reservoirs for the former Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company
. The site was chosen for its close proximity to the River Thames for cooling water and coal delivery, and because it was sited in the heart of London, the station's immediate supply area.
The proposal sparked protests from those who felt that the building would be too large and would be an eyesore, as well as worries about the pollution damaging local buildings, parks and even paintings in the nearby Tate Gallery
. The company addressed the former concern by hiring Sir Giles Gilbert Scott to design the building's exterior. He was a noted architect and industrial designer, famous for his design of the red telephone box
, and of Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. He would go on to design another London power station, Bankside
, which now houses the Tate Modern
art gallery. The pollution issue was resolved by granting permission for the station on the condition that its emissions were to be treated, to ensure they were cleaner and contained less smoke.
Construction of the first phase, the A Station, commenced in March 1929. The main building work was carried out by John Mowlem & Co
, and the structural steelwork erection carried out by Sir William Arrol & Co.
Other contractors were employed for specialist tasks. Most of the electrical equipment, including the steam turbine
turbo generators
, was produced by Metropolitan Vickers. The building of the steel frame began in October 1930. Once completed, the construction of the brick cladding began, in March 1931. Until the construction of the B Station, the eastern wall of the boiler house was clad in corrugated metal sheeting as a temporary enclosure. The A Station first generated electricity in 1933, but was not completed until 1935. The total cost of its construction came to £2,141,550. Between construction beginning in 1929 and 1933, there were 6 fatal and 121 non-fatal accidents on the site.
A short number of months after the end of Second World War
, construction commenced on the second phase, the B Station. The station came into operation gradually between 1953 to 1955. It was identical to the A Station from the outside and was constructed directly to its east as a mirror to it, which gave the power station its now familiar four-chimney layout. The construction of the B Station brought the site's generating capacity up to 509 megawatts (MW), making it the third largest generating site in the UK at the time, providing a fifth of London's electricity needs. It was also the most thermally efficient power station in the world when it opened.
The A Station had been operated by the London Power Company, but by the time the B Station was completed, the UK's electric supply industry had been nationalised, and ownership of the two stations had passed into the hands of the British Electricity Authority
in 1948. In 1955, this became the Central Electricity Authority
, which in turn became the Central Electricity Generating Board in 1957.
On 20 April 1964, the power station was the site of a fire that caused power failures throughout London, including at the BBC Television Centre
, which was due to launch BBC Two
that night. The launch was delayed until the following day at 11am.
Both of the stations were designed by a team of architects and engineers. The team was headed by Dr. S. Leonard Pearce, the chief engineer of the London Power Company, but a number of other notable engineers were also involved, including Henry Newmarch Allott, and T. P. O'Sullivan
who was later responsible for the Assembly Hall at Filton
. Theo J. Halliday was employed as architect, with Halliday & Agate Co. employed as a sub-consultant. Halliday was responsible for the supervision and execution of the appearance of the exterior and interior of the building. Architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott was involved in the project much later on, consulted to appease public reaction, and referred to in the press as "architect of the exterior". The station was designed in the brick-cathedral style of power station design, which had been popular when the stations were designed in the 1930s and 1940s. Battersea is one of a very small number of examples of this style of power station design still in existence in the UK, other survivals being Uskmouth
and Bankside
. The station's design proved popular straightaway, and was described as a "temple of power", which ranked equal with St Paul's Cathedral
as a London landmark. In a 1939 survey by Architects Journal
, a panel of celebrities ranked it as their second favourite building.
The A Station's interior was given many Art Deco
fittings by architect Halliday. The control room was given Art Deco fittings, Italian marble was used in the turbine hall, and polished parquet floors and wrought-iron
staircases were used throughout. Owing to a lack of available money following the Second World War
, the interior of the B Station was not given the same treatment, and instead the fittings were made from stainless steel
.
Each of the two connected stations consist of a long boiler house with a chimney
at each end and an adjacent turbine hall
. This makes a single main structure which is of steel frame
construction with brick cladding. This is similar to the skyscrapers which were built in the United States around the same time. The station is the largest brick structure in Europe. The building's gross dimensions measure 160 metres (524.9 ft) by 170 metres (557.7 ft), with the roof of the boiler house standing at over 50 metres (164 ft). Each of the four chimneys is made from concrete and stands at a height of 103 metres (337.9 ft). The station also had jetty
facilities for unloading coal, a coal sorting and storage area, control rooms and an administration block.
The A Station generated electricity using three turbo alternator
s; two 69 megawatt (MW) Metropolitan Vickers British Thomson-Houston
sets, and one 105 MW Metropolitan Vickers set, giving the A Station a generating capacity of 243 MW. At the time of its commissioning, the 105 MW generating set was the largest in Europe. The B Station also had three turbo alternators, all made by Metropolitan-Vickers
. This consisted of two units which used 16 MW high pressure units exhausting to a 78 MW and associated with a 6 MW house alternator, giving these units a total rating of 100 MW. The third unit consisted of a 66 MW machine associated with a 6 MW house alternator, giving the unit a rating of 72 MW. Combined, these gave the B station a generating capacity of 260 MW, making the site's generating capacity 503 MW. All of the station's boilers were made by Babcock & Wilcox, fuelled by pulverised coal from pulverisers also built by Babcock & Wilcox. There were nine boilers in the A station and six in the B station. The B station's boilers were the largest ever built in the UK at that time. The B station also had the highest thermal efficiency of any power station in the country for the first twelve years of its operation.
and North East England
by coastal
collier ships
. The ships were "flat-irons" with a low-profile superstructure, fold-down funnel and masts to fit under bridges over the Thames above the Pool of London
. The LPC and its nationalised successors owned and operated several of its own "flat-irons" for this service.
The jetty facilities used two cranes to offload coal, with the capacity of unloading two ships at one time, at a rate of 480 tonnes an hour. Coal was also delivered by rail
to the east of the station using the Brighton Main Line
which passes near the site. Coal was usually delivered to the jetty, rather than by rail. A conveyor belt
system was then used to take coal to the coal storage area or directly to the station's boiler rooms. The conveyor belt system consisted of a series of bridges connected by towers. The coal storage area was a large concrete box capable of holding 75,000 tonnes of coal. This had an overhead gantry with a conveyor belt attached to the conveyor belt system, for taking coal from the coal store to the boiler rooms.
, as water is heated to create steam to turn the steam turbines. Water cycled through Battersea Power Station's systems was taken from the River Thames
, upon whose banks it had been built. The station would extract an average of 1 545 700 000 L (340,000,000 Imperial gallons) of water from the river each day. Once the water had been through the station's systems, the water was cooled and discharged back into the river.
The waste heat of the water was also implemented in a district heating
scheme. After the end of the Second World War
, the London Power Company took the opportunity to introduce the new innovation in the Battersea station. A district heating scheme (better known now as "cogeneration
") benefitted some 10,000 people. It provided hot water and central heating
to newly redeveloped areas within Pimlico
, on the opposite side of the river.
, sulphur dioxide was converted into sulphuric acid. Battersea Power Station was one of the first commercial applications of this technique in the world. This method of washing was stopped in the B Station in the 1960s, when it was discovered that the discharge of these products into the Thames was more harmful to the river than the gases would be to the atmosphere.
and its generating capacity had reduced to 228 MW.
Three years after the closure of the A Station, rumours began to circulate that the B Station would soon follow. A campaign was then launched to try to save the building as part of the national heritage. As a result the station was declared a heritage site in 1980, when then Secretary of State for the Environment
, Michael Heseltine
, awarded the building Grade II listed status. (This was upgraded to Grade II* listed in 2007.) On 31 October 1983 production of electricity at Station B also ended, after nearly 30 years of operation. By then the B Station's generating capacity had fallen to 146 MW. The closure of the two stations was put down largely to the generating equipment becoming outdated, and the preferred choice of fuel for electricity generation shifting from coal toward oil
, gas
and nuclear power
. Since the station ceased generating electricity, there have been numerous proposals and attempts to redevelop the site.
Following the station's closure, the Central Electricity Generating Board had planned to demolish the station and sell the land for housing, but because of the building's Grade II listed status, they had to pay the high cost of preserving the building. In 1983 they held a competition for ideas on the redevelopment of the site. It was won by a consortium including Alton Towers Ltd
, which proposed an indoor theme park, based around Britain's industrial history. At an estimated cost of £35 million, the scheme was risky and would require over 2 million visitors a year to make any profit. The scheme received planning approval in May 1986 and the site was purchased by John Broome for £1.5 million in 1987. Work on converting the site began the same year.
The project was halted in March 1989, for lack of funding, after costs had quickly escalated that January, from £35 million to £230 million. By this point huge sections of the building's roof had been removed, so that machinery could be taken out. Without a roof, the building's steel framework has been left exposed and its foundations have been prone to flooding.
In March 1990, the proposal was changed to a mixture of offices, shops and a hotel. This proposal was granted planning permission in August 1990, despite opposition from 14 independent organizations, including English Heritage
. Despite permission being granted, no further work took place on the site between 1990 and 1993.
by Hong Kong
-based development company, Parkview International, for £10 million. Following resolution of creditors' claims, it acquired the freehold title in May 1996. In November 1996 plans for the redevelopment of the site were submitted and outline consent was received in May 1997. Detailed consent for much of the site was granted in August 2000, and the rest in May 2001. The company received full possession of the site in 2003. Having purchased the site, Parkview started work on a £1.1 billion project to restore the building and to redevelop the site into a retail, housing and leisure complex.
Parkview's project plan, called simply "The Power Station", was masterminded by architect Nicholas Grimshaw
. The scheme proposed a shopping mall
, with 40 to 50 restaurants, cafés and bars, 180 shops, as well as nightclubs, comedy venues and a cinema. Cosmopolitan shops would have been sited in the A Station's turbine hall, and label name shops in the B Station's turbine hall. The boiler house would have been glazed over and used as a public space for installations and exhibitions. A riverside walkway would also be created, running continuously along the riverside from Vauxhall
to Battersea Park
.
Parkview claimed that 3,000 jobs would be created during the construction of the project, and 9,000 would be employed once completed, with an emphasis on local recruitment. The Battersea Power Station Community Group campaigned against the Parkview plan and argued for an alternative community-based scheme to be drawn up. The group described the plans as "a deeply unattractive project that has no affordable housing anywhere on the 38 acres (153,780.7 m²) site, no decent jobs for local people and no credible public transport strategy". They also criticised how appropriate the project was in its location, and proposal of other large buildings on the site. Keith Garner of the group said "I feel that there’s a real problem of appropriateness. They need a completely different kind of scheme, not this airport-lounge treatment. What you see now is a majestic building looming up from the river. If you surround it with buildings 15 storeys high, you don’t have a landmark any more."
In 2005 Parkview, English Heritage and the London Borough of Wandsworth
claimed that the reinforcement inside the chimneys was corroded and irreparable. Wandsworth Council granted permission for them to be demolished and rebuilt. However, the Twentieth Century Society, the World Monuments Fund
and the Battersea Power Station Company Ltd commissioned an alternative engineers' report that claimed that the existing chimneys could be repaired. In response, Parkview claimed to have given a legally binding undertaking to the council to provide certainty that the chimneys will be replaced "like for like", in accordance with the requirements of English Heritage and the planning authorities.
, of New York
as the new master planner for the site. The engineers Roger Preston & Partners and Buro Happold
were retained on the design team. REO announced its £4 billion plan in 2008, later revised. Jersey law firms, Ogier, Carey Olsen and Mourant Oxannes helped REO to raise funds for the new Battersea Power Station redevelopment. On 30 November 2011, it was officially announced that the REO scheme had collapsed with the debt called in by its lenders and creditors, putting the site in administration.
London Underground extension
A proposed part of the regeneration is an extension of the London Underground
to serve the area. Although the site is close to Battersea Park and Queenstown Road stations, it appears to be considered that trains from these stations to Victoria and Waterloo respectively are already heavily loaded. The proposed 2 mile tunnelled extension would branch from the Northern Line
at Kennington
and travel west to Nine Elms
and Battersea. The proposed extension would cost at least £500 million in 2008 terms before inflation and optimism bias (extra contingency amounts) and would be part funded by REO and, possibly, other significant land owners in the Nine Elms area. the 2010 planning consent for the site includes a phased contribution of approx. £200 million to the Underground extension, which adds another financial hurdle to the many difficulties in developing the site.
Biomass power station
They include reusing part of the station building as a power station, fuelled by biomass
and waste. The station's existing chimneys would be utilised for venting steam. The former turbine halls would be converted to shopping spaces, and the roofless boiler house used as a park. An energy museum would also be housed inside the former station building. The restoration of the power station building would cost £150 million.
Eco-dome
A plastic built "eco-dome" is also to be built to the east of the power station. This building was originally planned to have a large 300 metres (984.3 ft) chimney, but this has now been abandoned in favour of a series of smaller towers. The eco-dome would house offices, and aim to reduce energy consumption in the buildings by 67% compared to conventional office buildings, by using the towers to draw cool air through the building. 3,200 new homes would also be built on the site to house 7,000 people.
Consultation process
In June 2008 a consultation process was launched, which revealed that 66% of the general public were in favour of the plans. At an event at the station on 23 March 2009, it was announced that REO were to submit the planning application for their proposal to Wandsworth Council.
Planning consent
The Council gave planning consent on 11 November 2010. REO hoped for construction to begin in 2011, but this has now been delayed to 2012. The station structure itself is expected to be repaired and secure by 2016, with completion of the whole project by 2020. Plans now include the construction of 3,400 apartments and 3500000 square feet (325,160.6 m²) of office space. Approximately 28,000 inhabitants and 25,000 workers are expected to occupy the space once complete.
Lenders allow more time
Reuters reported on 1 September 2011 that lenders would allow more time for a new equity partner to be found:
Controversy
On 19 September 2011, the Irish Independent
reported concern over an alleged donation of 23,000 Euro
by a developer to Britain's Conservative Party
.
were reported to be considered moving to a new purpose built stadium at the power station. The proposed stadium was to hold between 65,000 and 75,000 fans and feature a retractable roof. The proposals were designed by HOK Sport, the same company who designed Wembley Stadium
. The stadium was expected to cost up to £500 million, and would be part funded by converting Chelsea's current ground, Stamford Bridge
into luxury apartments. This was a similar plan to Arsenal
's conversion of Arsenal Stadium
when they moved to Emirates Stadium
in 2006. However the next day, the club called the reports "total nonsense". It published a statement saying "Chelsea is not actively considering moving to this site in Battersea... the architects HOK have not been commissioned by Chelsea to build a stadium and do not work for the club. Their approach was unsolicited." On 24 November 2011, reports surfaced that Chelsea were again considering the possibility of building a 55,000-60,000 capacity stadium at the site, provided the Chelsea Pitch Owners
agree to sell their shares in Stamford Bridge
. However, the Chelsea FC scheme was seriously in doubt due to concerns for the preservation of the site and the collapse of the REO scheme in late November 2011.
's 1936 film Sabotage
, which shows the station before the construction of the B station. The interior of the A station's control room was used for the "Find The Fish" segment of Monty Python's
1983 film The Meaning of Life.
More recently in October 2007, the power station was used as a filming location for the Batman
movie, The Dark Knight
. The station's stripped, empty interior was used as a setting for a burnt out warehouse.
The station has appeared numerous times in the long-running British science fiction series Doctor Who
. It appeared briefly in the episode The Dalek Invasion of Earth
in 1964, which saw the station in the 22nd century with two chimneys demolished, and a nearby nuclear reactor dome. It appeared again in the 2006 Doctor Who episodes "Rise of the Cybermen
" and "The Age of Steel
" as the base to which Londoners are drawn to be converted into Cybermen
.
The Battersea Power Station Community Group think one of the main reasons for the power station's worldwide recognition is that it has appeared on the cover of Pink Floyd
's 1977 album, Animals, on which it was photographed with the group's inflatable pink pig
floating above it. The photographs were taken in early December 1976 and the inflatable pig was made by the German company Ballon Fabrik and Australian artist Jeffrey Shaw
. The inflatable pig was tethered to one of the power station's southern chimneys, but broke loose from its moorings and, to the astonishment of pilots in approaching planes, rose into the flight path of Heathrow Airport. Police helicopters tracked its course, until it landed in Kent
. Video footage of the photoshoot was used in the promotional video for the song "Pigs on the Wing
". The album was officially launched at an event at the power station. The image has since been parodied many times.
In recent years, the station has been used for various sporting, cultural and political events. Since 22 August 2009, the station has been used as a venue on the Red Bull X-Fighters
season. On 13 April 2010 the station site was used as the venue for the manifesto launch of the Conservative Party
led by David Cameron
during the general election campaign for the UK Parliament at Westminster. Between 6 and 7 May 2010, the station site was used by Sky News
in their coverage of the election.
The site has also been used as a venue for racing tracks in the popular Colin McRae
series of video games, featuring in both Dirt 2 and Dirt 3
.
Fossil fuel power plant
A fossil-fuel power station is a power station that burns fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas or petroleum to produce electricity. Central station fossil-fuel power plants are designed on a large scale for continuous operation...
located on the south bank of the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
, in Battersea
Battersea
Battersea is an area of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is an inner-city district of South London, situated on the south side of the River Thames, 2.9 miles south-west of Charing Cross. Battersea spans from Fairfield in the west to Queenstown in the east...
, South
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The station comprises two individual power stations, built in two stages in the form of a single building. Battersea A Power Station was built first in the 1930s, with Battersea B Power Station to its east in the 1950s. The two stations were built to an identical design, providing the well known four-chimney layout. The station ceased generating electricity in 1983, but over the past 50 years it has become one of the best known landmarks in London and is Grade II* listed. The station's celebrity owes to numerous cultural appearances
Battersea power station in popular culture
Battersea Power Station has been featured in many forms of media and culture: it can be seen on several album covers by rock and pop groups, in a number of music videos, and has appeared in many films and television programmes in its more than 70 year history.-Album artwork:The Battersea Power...
, which include a shot in The Beatles'
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
1965 movie Help!
Help! (film)
Help! is a 1965 film directed by Richard Lester, starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—and featuring Leo McKern, Eleanor Bron, Victor Spinetti, John Bluthal, Roy Kinnear and Patrick Cargill. Help! was the second feature film made by the Beatles and is a...
, and being used in the cover art of Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's 1977 album Animals. In addition, a photograph of the plant's control room was used as cover art on Hawkwind
Hawkwind
Hawkwind are an English rock band, one of the earliest space rock groups. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes. They are also a noted precursor to punk rock and now are considered a link between the hippie and punk cultures....
's 1977 album Quark, Strangeness and Charm
Quark, Strangeness and Charm
Quark, Strangeness And Charm is the seventh studio album by the English space rock group Hawkwind, released in 1977. It spent 6 weeks on the UK albums chart peaking at #30....
.
Since closure the site has remained largely unused, with numerous failed redevelopment plans from successive site owners. The site is currently owned by Irish company Real Estate Opportunities (REO), who purchased it for £400 million in November 2006. In November 2010, REO was granted permission to refurbish the station for public use and build 3,400 homes across the site.
The station is the largest brick building in Europe and is notable for its original, lavish Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
interior fittings and decor. However, the building's condition has been described as "very bad" by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
, who include the power station on its Buildings at Risk Register. In 2004, while the redevelopment project was stalled, and the building remained derelict, the site was listed on the 2004 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund
World Monuments Fund
World Monuments Fund is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training....
. The combination of an existing debt burden of approximately £750 million, the need to make a £200 million contribution to a proposed extension to the London Underground, requirements to fund conservation of the derelict power station shell and the presence of a waste transfer station and cement plant on the river frontage make a commercial development of the site a significant challenge. As of December 2011, the latest proposals to develop the site collapsed with the debt called in and the scheme faced being taken in administration at the High Court on 12 December.
History
Until the late 1930s electricity was supplied by municipal undertakings. These were small power companies that built power stations dedicated to a single industry or group of factories, and sold any excess electricity to the public. These companies used widely differing standards of voltage and frequency. In 1925 Parliament decided that the power grid should be a single system with uniform standards under public ownership. Several of the private power companies reacted to the proposal by forming the London Power CompanyLondon Power Company
The London Power Company was an electricity generating and supply company in London, England. The LPC was formed in 1925 by the merger of 10 smaller electricity companies...
. They planned to heed parliament's recommendations and build a small number of very large stations.
The London Power Company's first of these super power stations was planned for the Battersea
Battersea
Battersea is an area of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is an inner-city district of South London, situated on the south side of the River Thames, 2.9 miles south-west of Charing Cross. Battersea spans from Fairfield in the west to Queenstown in the east...
area, on the south bank of the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The proposal for the station was made in 1927, for a station built in two stages, capable of generating 400,000 kilowatts (kW) of electricity once completed. The site chosen for the construction of the station was a 15 acres (60,702.9 m²) plot of land which had been the site of the reservoirs for the former Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company
Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company
The Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company was a utility company supplying water to parts of south London in England. The company was formed by the merger of the Southwark and Vauxhall Water Companies in 1845 and became part of the publicly-owned Metropolitan Water Board in 1903.-Southwark Water...
. The site was chosen for its close proximity to the River Thames for cooling water and coal delivery, and because it was sited in the heart of London, the station's immediate supply area.
The proposal sparked protests from those who felt that the building would be too large and would be an eyesore, as well as worries about the pollution damaging local buildings, parks and even paintings in the nearby Tate Gallery
Tate Britain
Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It...
. The company addressed the former concern by hiring Sir Giles Gilbert Scott to design the building's exterior. He was a noted architect and industrial designer, famous for his design of the red telephone box
Red telephone box
The red telephone box, a public telephone kiosk designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, is a familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom, Malta, Bermuda and Gibraltar, and despite a reduction in their numbers in recent years, red boxes can still be seen in many places and in current or former...
, and of Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. He would go on to design another London power station, Bankside
Bankside Power Station
Bankside Power Station is a former oil-fired power station, located on the south bank of the River Thames, in the Bankside district of London. It generated electricity from 1952 to 1981. Since 2000 the station's building has been used to house the Tate Modern art museum.-History:The station was...
, which now houses the Tate Modern
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London, England. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group . It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year...
art gallery. The pollution issue was resolved by granting permission for the station on the condition that its emissions were to be treated, to ensure they were cleaner and contained less smoke.
Construction of the first phase, the A Station, commenced in March 1929. The main building work was carried out by John Mowlem & Co
Mowlem
Mowlem was one of the largest construction and civil engineering companies in the United Kingdom. Carillion bought the firm in 2006.-History:Founded by John Mowlem in 1822, the company was awarded a Royal Warrant in 1902 and went public on the London Stock Exchange in 1924. It acquired SGB Group in...
, and the structural steelwork erection carried out by Sir William Arrol & Co.
Sir William Arrol & Co.
Sir William Arrol & Co. was a leading Scottish civil engineering business founded by William Arrol and based in Glasgow. It built some of the most famous bridges in the United Kingdom including the Forth Bridge and Tower Bridge in London.-Early history:...
Other contractors were employed for specialist tasks. Most of the electrical equipment, including the steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
turbo generators
Electrical generator
In electricity generation, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A generator forces electric charge to flow through an external electrical circuit. It is analogous to a water pump, which causes water to flow...
, was produced by Metropolitan Vickers. The building of the steel frame began in October 1930. Once completed, the construction of the brick cladding began, in March 1931. Until the construction of the B Station, the eastern wall of the boiler house was clad in corrugated metal sheeting as a temporary enclosure. The A Station first generated electricity in 1933, but was not completed until 1935. The total cost of its construction came to £2,141,550. Between construction beginning in 1929 and 1933, there were 6 fatal and 121 non-fatal accidents on the site.
A short number of months after the end of Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, construction commenced on the second phase, the B Station. The station came into operation gradually between 1953 to 1955. It was identical to the A Station from the outside and was constructed directly to its east as a mirror to it, which gave the power station its now familiar four-chimney layout. The construction of the B Station brought the site's generating capacity up to 509 megawatts (MW), making it the third largest generating site in the UK at the time, providing a fifth of London's electricity needs. It was also the most thermally efficient power station in the world when it opened.
The A Station had been operated by the London Power Company, but by the time the B Station was completed, the UK's electric supply industry had been nationalised, and ownership of the two stations had passed into the hands of the British Electricity Authority
British Electricity Authority
The British Electricity Authority was established in 1948 with the nationalisation of the Great Britain's electricity supply industry. It was created by means of the Electricity Act 1947...
in 1948. In 1955, this became the Central Electricity Authority
Central Electricity Authority (UK)
The Central Electricity Authority was a body that ran the electricity supply industry in England and Wales between 1954 and 1957. The CEA replaced the earlier British Electricity Authority as a result of the Electricity Reorganisation Act 1954, which moved responsibility for Scottish electricity...
, which in turn became the Central Electricity Generating Board in 1957.
On 20 April 1964, the power station was the site of a fire that caused power failures throughout London, including at the BBC Television Centre
BBC Television Centre
BBC Television Centre at White City in West London is the headquarters of BBC Television. Officially opened on 29 June 1960, it remains one of the largest to this day; having featured over the years as backdrop to many BBC programmes, it is one of the most readily recognisable such facilities...
, which was due to launch BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
that night. The launch was delayed until the following day at 11am.
Design and specification
Terence Patrick O'Sullivan
Terence Patrick O'Sullivan BSc, PhD, FICE, MSocCE , was a civil engineer. He specialised initially in steel and reinforced concrete structures. Later he founded a firm of consulting engineers, T. P...
who was later responsible for the Assembly Hall at Filton
Bristol Brabazon
The Bristol Type 167 Brabazon was a large propeller-driven airliner, designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company to fly transatlantic routes from the United Kingdom to the United States. The prototype was delivered in 1949, only to prove a commercial failure when airlines felt the airliner was too...
. Theo J. Halliday was employed as architect, with Halliday & Agate Co. employed as a sub-consultant. Halliday was responsible for the supervision and execution of the appearance of the exterior and interior of the building. Architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott was involved in the project much later on, consulted to appease public reaction, and referred to in the press as "architect of the exterior". The station was designed in the brick-cathedral style of power station design, which had been popular when the stations were designed in the 1930s and 1940s. Battersea is one of a very small number of examples of this style of power station design still in existence in the UK, other survivals being Uskmouth
Uskmouth Power Station
The Uskmouth power stations refers to a series of two coal-fired power station at the mouth of the River Usk in the south-east of Newport, Wales. The first of the two station, Uskmouth A power station, was built in the 1950s and demolished in the 1990s...
and Bankside
Bankside Power Station
Bankside Power Station is a former oil-fired power station, located on the south bank of the River Thames, in the Bankside district of London. It generated electricity from 1952 to 1981. Since 2000 the station's building has been used to house the Tate Modern art museum.-History:The station was...
. The station's design proved popular straightaway, and was described as a "temple of power", which ranked equal with St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
as a London landmark. In a 1939 survey by Architects Journal
Architects Journal
The Architects' Journal is a weekly architectural magazine published in London by Emap. The first edition was produced in 1896. Commonly referred to by architects as the AJ, its articles cover matters of more immediate interest than its sister publication the Architectural Review...
, a panel of celebrities ranked it as their second favourite building.
The A Station's interior was given many Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
fittings by architect Halliday. The control room was given Art Deco fittings, Italian marble was used in the turbine hall, and polished parquet floors and wrought-iron
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
staircases were used throughout. Owing to a lack of available money following the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the interior of the B Station was not given the same treatment, and instead the fittings were made from stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
.
Each of the two connected stations consist of a long boiler house with a chimney
Flue gas stack
A flue-gas stack is a type of chimney, a vertical pipe, channel or similar structure through which combustion product gases called flue gases are exhausted to the outside air. Flue gases are produced when coal, oil, natural gas, wood or any other fuel is combusted in an industrial furnace, a power...
at each end and an adjacent turbine hall
Turbine Hall
The turbine hall, generating hall or turbine building is a building that is a part of any steam cycle or hydroelectric power plant which houses a number of components vital to the generation of electricity from the steam that comes from the boiler, or from the water coming from the reservoir...
. This makes a single main structure which is of steel frame
Steel frame
Steel frame usually refers to a building technique with a "skeleton frame" of vertical steel columns and horizontal -beams, constructed in a rectangular grid to support the floors, roof and walls of a building which are all attached to the frame...
construction with brick cladding. This is similar to the skyscrapers which were built in the United States around the same time. The station is the largest brick structure in Europe. The building's gross dimensions measure 160 metres (524.9 ft) by 170 metres (557.7 ft), with the roof of the boiler house standing at over 50 metres (164 ft). Each of the four chimneys is made from concrete and stands at a height of 103 metres (337.9 ft). The station also had jetty
Jetty
A jetty is any of a variety of structures used in river, dock, and maritime works that are generally carried out in pairs from river banks, or in continuation of river channels at their outlets into deep water; or out into docks, and outside their entrances; or for forming basins along the...
facilities for unloading coal, a coal sorting and storage area, control rooms and an administration block.
The A Station generated electricity using three turbo alternator
Alternator
An alternator is an electromechanical device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current.Most alternators use a rotating magnetic field but linear alternators are occasionally used...
s; two 69 megawatt (MW) Metropolitan Vickers British Thomson-Houston
British Thomson-Houston
British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...
sets, and one 105 MW Metropolitan Vickers set, giving the A Station a generating capacity of 243 MW. At the time of its commissioning, the 105 MW generating set was the largest in Europe. The B Station also had three turbo alternators, all made by Metropolitan-Vickers
Metropolitan-Vickers
Metropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, they were particularly well known for their industrial electrical equipment such as generators, steam...
. This consisted of two units which used 16 MW high pressure units exhausting to a 78 MW and associated with a 6 MW house alternator, giving these units a total rating of 100 MW. The third unit consisted of a 66 MW machine associated with a 6 MW house alternator, giving the unit a rating of 72 MW. Combined, these gave the B station a generating capacity of 260 MW, making the site's generating capacity 503 MW. All of the station's boilers were made by Babcock & Wilcox, fuelled by pulverised coal from pulverisers also built by Babcock & Wilcox. There were nine boilers in the A station and six in the B station. The B station's boilers were the largest ever built in the UK at that time. The B station also had the highest thermal efficiency of any power station in the country for the first twelve years of its operation.
Coal transportation
The station had an annual coal consumption of over 1,000,000 tonnes. The majority of this coal was delivered to the station from coal ports in South WalesSouth Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
and North East England
North East England
North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...
by coastal
Coastal trading vessel
Coastal trading vessels, also known as coasters, are shallow-hulled ships used for trade between locations on the same island or continent. Their shallow hulls mean that they can get through reefs where deeper-hulled sea-going ships usually cannot....
collier ships
Collier (ship type)
Collier is a historical term used to describe a bulk cargo ship designed to carry coal, especially for naval use by coal-fired warships. In the late 18th century a number of wooden-hulled sailing colliers gained fame after being adapted for use in voyages of exploration in the South Pacific, for...
. The ships were "flat-irons" with a low-profile superstructure, fold-down funnel and masts to fit under bridges over the Thames above the Pool of London
Pool of London
The Pool of London is a part of the Tideway of the River Thames from London Bridge to below Tower Bridge. It was the original part of the Port of London. The Pool of London is divided into two parts, the Upper Pool and Lower Pool...
. The LPC and its nationalised successors owned and operated several of its own "flat-irons" for this service.
The jetty facilities used two cranes to offload coal, with the capacity of unloading two ships at one time, at a rate of 480 tonnes an hour. Coal was also delivered by rail
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
to the east of the station using the Brighton Main Line
Brighton Main Line
The Brighton Main Line is a British railway line from London Victoria and London Bridge to Brighton. It is about 50 miles long, and is electrified throughout. Trains are operated by Southern, First Capital Connect, and Gatwick Express, now part of Southern.-Original proposals:There were no fewer...
which passes near the site. Coal was usually delivered to the jetty, rather than by rail. A conveyor belt
Conveyor belt
A conveyor belt consists of two or more pulleys, with a continuous loop of material - the conveyor belt - that rotates about them. One or both of the pulleys are powered, moving the belt and the material on the belt forward. The powered pulley is called the drive pulley while the unpowered pulley...
system was then used to take coal to the coal storage area or directly to the station's boiler rooms. The conveyor belt system consisted of a series of bridges connected by towers. The coal storage area was a large concrete box capable of holding 75,000 tonnes of coal. This had an overhead gantry with a conveyor belt attached to the conveyor belt system, for taking coal from the coal store to the boiler rooms.
Water system
Water is essential to a thermal power stationThermal power station
A thermal power station is a power plant in which the prime mover is steam driven. Water is heated, turns into steam and spins a steam turbine which drives an electrical generator. After it passes through the turbine, the steam is condensed in a condenser and recycled to where it was heated; this...
, as water is heated to create steam to turn the steam turbines. Water cycled through Battersea Power Station's systems was taken from the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
, upon whose banks it had been built. The station would extract an average of 1 545 700 000 L (340,000,000 Imperial gallons) of water from the river each day. Once the water had been through the station's systems, the water was cooled and discharged back into the river.
The waste heat of the water was also implemented in a district heating
District heating
District heating is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating and water heating...
scheme. After the end of the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the London Power Company took the opportunity to introduce the new innovation in the Battersea station. A district heating scheme (better known now as "cogeneration
Cogeneration
Cogeneration is the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat....
") benefitted some 10,000 people. It provided hot water and central heating
Central heating
A central heating system provides warmth to the whole interior of a building from one point to multiple rooms. When combined with other systems in order to control the building climate, the whole system may be a HVAC system.Central heating differs from local heating in that the heat generation...
to newly redeveloped areas within Pimlico
Pimlico
Pimlico is a small area of central London in the City of Westminster. Like Belgravia, to which it was built as a southern extension, Pimlico is known for its grand garden squares and impressive Regency architecture....
, on the opposite side of the river.
Scrubbers
The reduction of sulphur emissions had been an important factor since the station was in the design stages, as it was one of the main worries of those who protested the construction of the station. The London Power Company began developing an experimental technique for washing the flue gases in 1925. It used water and alkaline sprays over scrubbers of steel and timber in the flue ducts. The gases were subject to continuous washing, and with the presence of the catalyst iron oxideIron oxide
Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. All together, there are sixteen known iron oxides and oxyhydroxides.Iron oxides and oxide-hydroxides are widespread in nature, play an important role in many geological and biological processes, and are widely utilized by humans, e.g.,...
, sulphur dioxide was converted into sulphuric acid. Battersea Power Station was one of the first commercial applications of this technique in the world. This method of washing was stopped in the B Station in the 1960s, when it was discovered that the discharge of these products into the Thames was more harmful to the river than the gases would be to the atmosphere.
Closure
The fact that the station's output continued to fall, coupled with increased operating costs, such as flue gas cleaning, led to Battersea's demise. On 17 March 1975, the A Station was closed after being in operation for 40 years. By this time the A Station's was co-firing oilPetroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
and its generating capacity had reduced to 228 MW.
Three years after the closure of the A Station, rumours began to circulate that the B Station would soon follow. A campaign was then launched to try to save the building as part of the national heritage. As a result the station was declared a heritage site in 1980, when then Secretary of State for the Environment
Secretary of State for the Environment
The Secretary of State for the Environment was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Department of the Environment . This was created by Edward Heath as a combination of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Building and Works on 15...
, Michael Heseltine
Michael Heseltine
Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group. He was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001 and was a prominent figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major...
, awarded the building Grade II listed status. (This was upgraded to Grade II* listed in 2007.) On 31 October 1983 production of electricity at Station B also ended, after nearly 30 years of operation. By then the B Station's generating capacity had fallen to 146 MW. The closure of the two stations was put down largely to the generating equipment becoming outdated, and the preferred choice of fuel for electricity generation shifting from coal toward oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
, gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
and nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
. Since the station ceased generating electricity, there have been numerous proposals and attempts to redevelop the site.
Theme park proposal
Alton Towers
Alton Towers is a theme park and resort located in Staffordshire, England. It attracts around 2.7 million visitors per year making it the most visited theme park in the United Kingdom. Alton Towers is also the 9th most visited theme park in Europe...
, which proposed an indoor theme park, based around Britain's industrial history. At an estimated cost of £35 million, the scheme was risky and would require over 2 million visitors a year to make any profit. The scheme received planning approval in May 1986 and the site was purchased by John Broome for £1.5 million in 1987. Work on converting the site began the same year.
The project was halted in March 1989, for lack of funding, after costs had quickly escalated that January, from £35 million to £230 million. By this point huge sections of the building's roof had been removed, so that machinery could be taken out. Without a roof, the building's steel framework has been left exposed and its foundations have been prone to flooding.
In March 1990, the proposal was changed to a mixture of offices, shops and a hotel. This proposal was granted planning permission in August 1990, despite opposition from 14 independent organizations, including English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
. Despite permission being granted, no further work took place on the site between 1990 and 1993.
Parkview proposal
In 1993, the site and its outstanding debt of £70 million were bought from the Bank of AmericaBank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
by Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
-based development company, Parkview International, for £10 million. Following resolution of creditors' claims, it acquired the freehold title in May 1996. In November 1996 plans for the redevelopment of the site were submitted and outline consent was received in May 1997. Detailed consent for much of the site was granted in August 2000, and the rest in May 2001. The company received full possession of the site in 2003. Having purchased the site, Parkview started work on a £1.1 billion project to restore the building and to redevelop the site into a retail, housing and leisure complex.
Parkview's project plan, called simply "The Power Station", was masterminded by architect Nicholas Grimshaw
Nicholas Grimshaw
Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, CBE is a prominent English architect, particularly noted for several modernist buildings, including London's Waterloo International railway station and the Eden Project in Cornwall...
. The scheme proposed a shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
, with 40 to 50 restaurants, cafés and bars, 180 shops, as well as nightclubs, comedy venues and a cinema. Cosmopolitan shops would have been sited in the A Station's turbine hall, and label name shops in the B Station's turbine hall. The boiler house would have been glazed over and used as a public space for installations and exhibitions. A riverside walkway would also be created, running continuously along the riverside from Vauxhall
Vauxhall
-Demography:Many Vauxhall residents live in social housing. There are several gentrified areas, and areas of terraced townhouses on streets such as Fentiman Road and Heyford Avenue have higher property values in the private market, however by far the most common type of housing stock within...
to Battersea Park
Battersea Park
Battersea Park is a 200 acre green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in England. It is situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea, and was opened in 1858....
.
Parkview claimed that 3,000 jobs would be created during the construction of the project, and 9,000 would be employed once completed, with an emphasis on local recruitment. The Battersea Power Station Community Group campaigned against the Parkview plan and argued for an alternative community-based scheme to be drawn up. The group described the plans as "a deeply unattractive project that has no affordable housing anywhere on the 38 acres (153,780.7 m²) site, no decent jobs for local people and no credible public transport strategy". They also criticised how appropriate the project was in its location, and proposal of other large buildings on the site. Keith Garner of the group said "I feel that there’s a real problem of appropriateness. They need a completely different kind of scheme, not this airport-lounge treatment. What you see now is a majestic building looming up from the river. If you surround it with buildings 15 storeys high, you don’t have a landmark any more."
In 2005 Parkview, English Heritage and the London Borough of Wandsworth
London Borough of Wandsworth
The London Borough of Wandsworth is a London borough in southwest London, England, and forms part of Inner London.-History:The borough was formed in 1965 from the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea and much of the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth, but...
claimed that the reinforcement inside the chimneys was corroded and irreparable. Wandsworth Council granted permission for them to be demolished and rebuilt. However, the Twentieth Century Society, the World Monuments Fund
World Monuments Fund
World Monuments Fund is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training....
and the Battersea Power Station Company Ltd commissioned an alternative engineers' report that claimed that the existing chimneys could be repaired. In response, Parkview claimed to have given a legally binding undertaking to the council to provide certainty that the chimneys will be replaced "like for like", in accordance with the requirements of English Heritage and the planning authorities.
REO proposal
On 30 November 2006, it was announced that Real Estate Opportunities, led by Irish businessmen Richard Barrett and Johnny Ronan of Treasury Holdings, had purchased Battersea Power Station and the surrounding land for €532 million (£400 million). REO subsequently announced that the previous plan by Parkview had been dropped and that it had appointed the practice of the Uruguayan-born architect Rafael ViñolyRafael Viñoly
Rafael Viñoly is an Uruguayan architect living in the United States.-Biography:He was born in Montevideo, Uruguay to Román Viñoly Barreto, and Maria Beceiro ....
, of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
as the new master planner for the site. The engineers Roger Preston & Partners and Buro Happold
Buro Happold
Buro Happold is a professional services firm providing engineering consultancy, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of buildings, infrastructure and the environment, with its head office in Bath, Somerset...
were retained on the design team. REO announced its £4 billion plan in 2008, later revised. Jersey law firms, Ogier, Carey Olsen and Mourant Oxannes helped REO to raise funds for the new Battersea Power Station redevelopment. On 30 November 2011, it was officially announced that the REO scheme had collapsed with the debt called in by its lenders and creditors, putting the site in administration.
London Underground extension
A proposed part of the regeneration is an extension of the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
to serve the area. Although the site is close to Battersea Park and Queenstown Road stations, it appears to be considered that trains from these stations to Victoria and Waterloo respectively are already heavily loaded. The proposed 2 mile tunnelled extension would branch from the Northern Line
Northern Line
The Northern line is a London Underground line. It is coloured black on the Tube map.For most of its length it is a deep-level tube line. The line carries 206,734,000 passengers per year. This is the highest number of any line on the London Underground system, but the Northern line is unique in...
at Kennington
Kennington
Kennington is a district of South London, England, mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, although part of the area is within the London Borough of Southwark....
and travel west to Nine Elms
Nine Elms
Nine Elms is a suburb of London, situated in the far north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Wandsworth between Battersea and Vauxhall.It is primarily an industrial area, dominated by Battersea Power Station, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, railway lines, a major Royal Mail sorting office and...
and Battersea. The proposed extension would cost at least £500 million in 2008 terms before inflation and optimism bias (extra contingency amounts) and would be part funded by REO and, possibly, other significant land owners in the Nine Elms area. the 2010 planning consent for the site includes a phased contribution of approx. £200 million to the Underground extension, which adds another financial hurdle to the many difficulties in developing the site.
Biomass power station
They include reusing part of the station building as a power station, fuelled by biomass
Biomass
Biomass, as a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or converted into other energy products such as biofuel....
and waste. The station's existing chimneys would be utilised for venting steam. The former turbine halls would be converted to shopping spaces, and the roofless boiler house used as a park. An energy museum would also be housed inside the former station building. The restoration of the power station building would cost £150 million.
Eco-dome
A plastic built "eco-dome" is also to be built to the east of the power station. This building was originally planned to have a large 300 metres (984.3 ft) chimney, but this has now been abandoned in favour of a series of smaller towers. The eco-dome would house offices, and aim to reduce energy consumption in the buildings by 67% compared to conventional office buildings, by using the towers to draw cool air through the building. 3,200 new homes would also be built on the site to house 7,000 people.
Consultation process
In June 2008 a consultation process was launched, which revealed that 66% of the general public were in favour of the plans. At an event at the station on 23 March 2009, it was announced that REO were to submit the planning application for their proposal to Wandsworth Council.
Planning consent
The Council gave planning consent on 11 November 2010. REO hoped for construction to begin in 2011, but this has now been delayed to 2012. The station structure itself is expected to be repaired and secure by 2016, with completion of the whole project by 2020. Plans now include the construction of 3,400 apartments and 3500000 square feet (325,160.6 m²) of office space. Approximately 28,000 inhabitants and 25,000 workers are expected to occupy the space once complete.
Lenders allow more time
Reuters reported on 1 September 2011 that lenders would allow more time for a new equity partner to be found:
However, in November 2011, Lloyds and NAMA called in the debt and the REO scheme collapsed into administration.
"Lenders to the owner of Battersea Power Station in London waived a debt maturity deadline yesterday while talks with potential new equity partners for its redevelopment continued, a source close to the process told Reuters. AIM-listed Real Estate Opportunities is seeking a partner for the 5.5 billion pound ($9 billion) development, and its senior lenders Lloyds and Ireland's National Asset Management AgencyNational Asset Management AgencyThe National Asset Management Agency is a body created by the Government of Ireland in late 2009. It is in response to the Irish financial crisis and the deflation of the Irish property bubble....
have already extended a deadline once relating to the 400 million pounds REO paid for the site in 2006. 'The banks have nothing to gain by calling the debt in. Talks with new equity partners continue, and an announcement may come in the next few weeks,' the source said".
Controversy
On 19 September 2011, the Irish Independent
Irish Independent
The Irish Independent is Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper that is published in both compact and broadsheet formats. It is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media.-History:...
reported concern over an alleged donation of 23,000 Euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
by a developer to Britain's Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
.
Chelsea F.C. stadium reports
On 9 November 2008, Chelsea Football ClubChelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
were reported to be considered moving to a new purpose built stadium at the power station. The proposed stadium was to hold between 65,000 and 75,000 fans and feature a retractable roof. The proposals were designed by HOK Sport, the same company who designed Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
. The stadium was expected to cost up to £500 million, and would be part funded by converting Chelsea's current ground, Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...
into luxury apartments. This was a similar plan to Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
's conversion of Arsenal Stadium
Arsenal Stadium
Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, North London, which was the home ground of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006...
when they moved to Emirates Stadium
Emirates Stadium
Ashburton Grove, currently known as the Emirates Stadium, is a UEFA elite football stadium which is home to Arsenal FC, where they moved from Highbury in 2006. It has an current capacity of 60,361, and there have been rumours of an expansion...
in 2006. However the next day, the club called the reports "total nonsense". It published a statement saying "Chelsea is not actively considering moving to this site in Battersea... the architects HOK have not been commissioned by Chelsea to build a stadium and do not work for the club. Their approach was unsolicited." On 24 November 2011, reports surfaced that Chelsea were again considering the possibility of building a 55,000-60,000 capacity stadium at the site, provided the Chelsea Pitch Owners
Chelsea Pitch Owners
Chelsea Pitch Owners plc a is a non-profit organization that owns both the freehold of the Stamford Bridge stadium and the naming rights of Chelsea Football Club.-History:...
agree to sell their shares in Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...
. However, the Chelsea FC scheme was seriously in doubt due to concerns for the preservation of the site and the collapse of the REO scheme in late November 2011.
In popular culture
Battersea power station has become an iconic structure, being featured in or used as a shooting location for many films, television programmes, music videos and video games. One of the station's earliest appearances on film was in Alfred HitchcockAlfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's 1936 film Sabotage
Sabotage (film)
Sabotage, also released as The Woman Alone, is a 1936 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is based on Joseph Conrad's novel The Secret Agent...
, which shows the station before the construction of the B station. The interior of the A station's control room was used for the "Find The Fish" segment of Monty Python's
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
1983 film The Meaning of Life.
More recently in October 2007, the power station was used as a filming location for the Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
movie, The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight (film)
The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins...
. The station's stripped, empty interior was used as a setting for a burnt out warehouse.
The station has appeared numerous times in the long-running British science fiction series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. It appeared briefly in the episode The Dalek Invasion of Earth
The Dalek Invasion of Earth
The Dalek Invasion of Earth is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from November 21 to December 26, 1964....
in 1964, which saw the station in the 22nd century with two chimneys demolished, and a nearby nuclear reactor dome. It appeared again in the 2006 Doctor Who episodes "Rise of the Cybermen
Rise of the Cybermen
"Rise of the Cybermen" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode features the return of Cybermen, where they are created on Earth itself. It is the first part of a two-part story, the concluding part being "The Age of Steel"...
" and "The Age of Steel
The Age of Steel
"The Age of Steel" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 20 May 2006 and is the second part of a two-part story that was the first to feature the Cybermen since Silver Nemesis in 1988. The first part, "Rise of the Cybermen", was...
" as the base to which Londoners are drawn to be converted into Cybermen
Cyberman
The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs who are amongst the most persistent enemies of the Doctor in the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas that began to implant more...
.
The Battersea Power Station Community Group think one of the main reasons for the power station's worldwide recognition is that it has appeared on the cover of Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's 1977 album, Animals, on which it was photographed with the group's inflatable pink pig
Pink Floyd pigs
Inflatable Pink Floyd flying pigs were one of the staple props of their live shows. The first was a sow, but a very obviously male pig appeared in the 1980s...
floating above it. The photographs were taken in early December 1976 and the inflatable pig was made by the German company Ballon Fabrik and Australian artist Jeffrey Shaw
Jeffrey Shaw
Jeffrey Shaw is a pioneering new media artist and researcher. From 1965 to 2002 he lived in Milan, London, Amsterdam and Karlsruhe, and returned to Australia in 2003 to assume the Directorship of the iCinema Research Centre at the University of New South Wales...
. The inflatable pig was tethered to one of the power station's southern chimneys, but broke loose from its moorings and, to the astonishment of pilots in approaching planes, rose into the flight path of Heathrow Airport. Police helicopters tracked its course, until it landed in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. Video footage of the photoshoot was used in the promotional video for the song "Pigs on the Wing
Pigs on the Wing
"Pigs on the Wing" is a two-part song by the progressive rock band Pink Floyd from their 1977 concept album, Animals, starting and wrapping up the album. According to various interviews, it was written by Roger Waters as a declaration of love to his then-love, Carolyne...
". The album was officially launched at an event at the power station. The image has since been parodied many times.
In recent years, the station has been used for various sporting, cultural and political events. Since 22 August 2009, the station has been used as a venue on the Red Bull X-Fighters
Red Bull X-Fighters
Red Bull X-Fighters are freestyle motocross motorbike stunt competitions contested in bullrings and similar venues. Alongside the X Games, they are the most prestigious and most challenging freestyle motocross competitions....
season. On 13 April 2010 the station site was used as the venue for the manifesto launch of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
led by David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
during the general election campaign for the UK Parliament at Westminster. Between 6 and 7 May 2010, the station site was used by Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
in their coverage of the election.
The site has also been used as a venue for racing tracks in the popular Colin McRae
Colin McRae
Colin Steele McRae, MBE was a Scottish rally driver born in Lanark.The son of five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae and brother of rally driver Alister McRae, Colin McRae was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion and, in 1995, became the first British person and the youngest to win the...
series of video games, featuring in both Dirt 2 and Dirt 3
Dirt 3
Dirt 3 is a rallying video game and the third in the Dirt series of the Colin McRae Rally series, developed and published by Codemasters. However, the "Colin McRae" tag has been completely removed from this iteration...
.
See also
- Energy use and conservation in the United KingdomEnergy use and conservation in the United KingdomEnergy use in the United Kingdom stood at 3,894.6 kilogrammes of oil equivalent per capita in 2005 compared to a world average of 1,778.0. In 2008, total energy consumed was 9.85 exajoules - around 2% of the estimated 474 EJ worldwide total...
- Energy policy of the United KingdomEnergy policy of the United KingdomThe current energy policy of the United Kingdom is set out in the Energy White Paper of May 2007 and Low Carbon Transition Plan of July 2009, building on previous work including the 2003 Energy White Paper and the Energy Review Report in 2006...
External links
- Battersea Power Station - a new energy for London
- Battersea Power Station Development
- Battersea Power Station Community Group
- Battersea Power Station Company Ltd
- Battersea Power Station and Bankside (Tate Modern) compared
- Battersea Power Station Redevelopment Images
- Battersea Power Station Photos
- BBC picture gallery
- Fan's website
- Footage of Battersea Power Station Fire in 1964