Battersea Power Station
An icon of the London skyline and immortalised in popular culture, the Grade II listed Battersea Power Station reopens to the public on 14th October 2022 after years of careful renovation.
Battersea A - 1934
Designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in an Art Deco style, the first stage of the Power Station (Power Station A) became fully operational in 1935. The second world war slowed progress on Power Station B, which finally became operational in 1944.
Battersea Power Station was the largest power station in the UK, and the most thermally efficient in the world, producing 400,000 kilowatts of electricity.
Art Deco designed Control Room A
The interior of the power station was as beautifully conceived as the exterior. Control Room A managed the distribution of power across London via banks of switchboards and was designed with a parquet floor, wrought iron staircases, an ornate glass ceiling and semi-circular control desk. Due to cost pressures of the war, Power Station B was designed more simply in a ‘brutalist’ style, with stainless steel fittings.
Brutalist designed Control Room B
By 1975, declining efficiency and an increase in maintenance costs forced the closure of Power Station A after 40 years of operation. Power Station B closed in 1983. A campaign to save the building led to it being awarded Grade II listed status, which prevented it from being demolished.
Restored Semi-circular Control Panel
After many failed attempts to redevelop the site, Battersea Power Station was put up for sale in 2012 and was bought by a Malaysian consortium with plans to redevelop the site into luxury homes, shops, and restaurants.
After 9 years of careful renovation, the Art Deco features both inside and out have been beautifully preserved and restored, and the control rooms turned into bars and event areas.
Battersea Power Station lives on as a unique landmark of Britain’s industrial and architectural heritage.
