Battersea Power Station
Iconic London landmark opens its doors. Well, sort of.
(Photos © urban75, 12th July 2008)

Battersea Power Station was the first in a series of large coal-fired electricity generating stations constructed as part of the National Grid.

The largest brick building in Europe and styled in the Art Deco fashion, the structure was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (who also designed the red telephone box, Liverpool Anglican Cathedral and the Bankside power station, which now houses the Tate Modern art gallery).

The steel-framed building was started in 1929 and completed by 1939.

The original power station had a single long hall with a chimney at either end, but this was doubled between 1953 to 1955 to give the familiar four-chimney layout, famously seem on the cover of Pink Floyd's 1977 album 'Animals'.

Closed since 1983, the site has seen numerous development plans come and go, and the open day we attended was put on by owners Treasury Holdings and Real Estate Opportunities who have ambitious plans to create a mixed use regeneration offering shopping, dining, museums and hotels.


A model of the proposed development, showing the distinctive 'eco-tower' behind the old power station.


Overall view of the model in the visitor centre.


Old instruments from the power station.








The walk around the power station begins!


The striking building in the distance.


Battersea gasometer with the famous dogs home to the left.


Dramatic sky behind the power station.




Getting closer.


Battersea gasometers.


Scaffolding surrounding an open viewpoint into one of the turbine halls.


Original tiles still intact inside.




Chimney reflections.


Large hole in the power station wall.


Passing train running along the tracks that flank the site.


Grabbing a shot. The surrounding fences were annoyingly high for photography unless you were 7 foot tall.


Surviving window glass.




Looking up.


Brick and windows.


Detail of window frames.









Looking up at the extant roof of a turbine hall.


Interior pillars.


Looking along an empty turbine hall.


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