Once a vital London power station fuelled by Welsh coal, Battersea Power Station is now undergoing the full luxury redevelopment treatment, offering unaffordable apartments and “world-class bars and restaurants, interspersed with the finest British and global retail brands.”
We passed the site on a chilly evening and took a look around.
No less than 253 toe-curlingly expensive apartments are being squeezed into the iconic superstructure of the power station.
The project website delivers the requisite blather:
The architects WilkinsonEyre approached the redevelopment of the Power Station with the requisite amount of care – paying homage to its history but infusing it with a 21st-century sensibility.
Michaelis Boyd’s interiors resonate with this original, irrepressible character, striking the right balance between energy, calm and the building’s former life.
On-trend breweries and restaurants are located round the railway arches surrounding the power station.
While new access to riverside views is welcomed, it should be noted that it’s more of the same security-patrolled, pseudo-public space – as seen in the King’s Cross Coal Drop Yards.
Although it was splendidly decked out in festive Christmas trees and lights, the Winter Village – located on the Grade II-listed Coaling Jetty on the River Thames – had become a casualty of covid-19 restrictions.
Here’s more marketing wank from the project website, complete with the requisite references to vibrancy and artisans:
The neighbourhood has been carefully curated to be a thriving quarter right on the River Thames.
The vibrant Circus West Village already features world-class bars and restaurants, interspersed with the finest British and global retail brands.
A place where technology giants mingle with local artisans.
The addition of Electric Boulevard looks set to create an irresistible shopping and leisure destination.
Battersea Power Station is the most happening place to be, on the banks on the River Thames.
It’s a place like no other. A place Powered by Positive.
Crossing over to the Coaling Jetty.
Work continues on the power station. It all looks very different to when we visited in July 2008.
Christmas trees on the jetty.
Although all the bars in the Winter Village were closed, people had brought along their own food and drink to enjoy. In the midst of a Tier 4 lockdown, this felt positively festive!
Quirky architecture going up adjacent to the power station.
Join the forum discussion
- Battersea Power Station – redevelopment plans and news (250 posts)
- Northern Line extension to Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station (45 posts)
More info
Related posts:
Battersea Power Station redevelopment plans get the green light
Battersea Power Station
Battersea Power Station
London in December: three chimneys at Battersea, Thames night views, parks and Christmas lights
London’s South Bank in the April sun: 1001 photos, luxury flats and a tennis racket acrobat
Lost Cavalry Christmas Party at The Magic Garden, Battersea – photos
Vauxhall at night – skyscrapers, buses, construction work and a Thames nocturne, Jan 2021
Centre Point redevelopment plans announced – luxury penthouse ahoy!
I like a lot of the development surrounding the power station. Those flats with the “quirky architecture” are actually among some of the first of the modern-style tower blocks that I’ve genuinely found attractive (as opposed to those popping around The O2 for example).
I just feel that the redevelopment of the power station itself is a bit lacking. I have a total dislike for shopping malls considering how the high street is practically dying and don’t see how this mall would be able to survive. On the other hand I would consider a conference center or apartments to turn the area into a “dead” area since much of the time no-one will be there. It would be better off becoming a new palace or a parliament (English parliament anyone?).
I hope a lot is done to utilize the river for public transportation. Though I hate having cars in urban areas, maybe a car ferry or taxi ferry might be a good option as well – it could be used to bring goods in white vans as well.