After 30 Years Battersea Power Station to Be Turned Into 3,500 New Houses
Battersea Power Station has stood empty for years awaiting development and approval of plans. Now it has been announced that in October 2013, conversion into new homes will finally best portable power stations reviews begin thirty years after the power station closed. The Battersea Power Station Development Company is behind the venture and in charge of the restoration of the Grade II listed building.
In October this year [2013] it will be the 30th anniversary since the power station was closed down. The project to convert it to housing is going to take 3 years, to complete in 2016 and preparatory work has already begun.
The restoration project will run into millions of pounds and will need to include much major repair work before any renovation is actually undertaken. The first phase of the building work is to repair the external brickwork, clean the towers, do work to the steel frame, repair and replace windows and take down and rebuild the famous chimneys. The chimneys will be reconstructed to the same design but using the latest safety and structural standards. The idea is to keep the building looking the same and as an icon of London.
The new Battersea development will be the heart of a new 39 acre community and will be a unique development in London, with various phases.
A special team has been put together to work on the site and the main developer for phase 1 as been announced as Carillion with the architect being Ian Simpson Architects and de Rijke Marsh Morgan. The contract for the first phase is rumoured to be worth around £400 million and will be one of the largest in London at the current time. Carillion is one of the UK’s largest construction firms and already has a number of high profile development schemes udder its belt such as Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport and Crossrail and the Royal Liverpool Hospital Project.
The first phase will be known as Circus West and will be to the west side of the Power Station and will include around 850 one, two and three bedroom apartments, also town houses and luxury penthouses. There will also be shops, commercial units, cultural buildings an d community spaces. When completed the whole development will provide more than 3,500 new homes. It will also create a large number of new jobs.
Battersea Power Station is the largest brick building in Europe and was known for its Art Deco interior and decor. It is an old coal-fired power station on the bank of the Thames river, in South-West London. It is actually two individual power stations that were built at different times but within one building. The first part was built in the 1930’s and the second part 20 years later. They have an identical design giving the iconic 4 chimney look. The power station stopped making electric in 1983 and has stood empty ever since. However appearances in various music videos for the Beaatles, Take That and Judas Priest and importantly gracing the cover of Pink Floyd’s 1977 album Animals have made it a unique landmark for London.