20 Battersea Power Station
BATTERSEA POWER STATION
Battersea Power Station is at the heart of one of central London ’ s largest new developments .
The £ 9bn project will see the creation of a vibrant new destination for London , housing a community of homes , shops , cafes , offices , leisure and cultural venues , with over 19 acres of public space .
The outline planning application for the Rafael Vinoly designed masterplan was approved by Wandsworth Council and the Mayor of London in 2010 and subsequently by the Secretary of State . The project is divided into eight phases , each designed by a range of world-renowned architects , with an overarching Placemaking strategy across all phases .
At the heart of the 42-acre development lies the Grade II * listed Power Station . Restoring and reworking such a complex building for a wide range of future uses is both a challenge of some scale and a huge opportunity .
Significant obstructions have been removed from the ground around the Power Station and from the central Boiler House . Some 1,200m3 of material – largely metal , concrete and steel – have been removed from the site over the last two years to make way for the piling and access works . www . batterseapowerstation . co . uk
Specialist heritage architects from Purcell have worked with the contractors to assess and document every item that is salvaged from the Power Station for reuse or re-purposing . Thousands of items , such as light fittings , gantry cranes and steel beams , are being stored for future use .
The original brick manufacturers were engaged early in the restoration programme and they will produce the new bricks for the restoration as they are required .
The Power Station ’ s bricks are imperial rather than the smaller metric sized brick more commonly produced today and they are being commissioned to ensure they complement the existing ones . Individual blends of brick have been created to match the colour and texture of the originals used in the different phases of construction .
The specifications and samples of the new bricks have been approved by Historic England and the London Borough of Wandsworth .
Circa 30km of scaffolding has been installed over the years to give safe access to the higher reaches of the Power Station to allow extensive surveys , cleaning and preparatory works to be undertaken .