Battersea Power Station, Nine Elms and Vauxhall - redevelopment plans and news
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hiraethified
They're restored the control room and it looks magnificent
Battersea Power Station’s restored control room revealed
The first photos of the restored Control Room A at Battersea Power Station have been released, showing the long banks of dials and electromechanical switches that used to be a hive of activity when the power station was still active.
www.ianvisits.co.uk
hash tag
Books, not bombs
Councillors with principles
BBC News - Battersea Power Station: Councillors refuse to attend opening
BBC News - Battersea Power Station: Councillors refuse to attend opening
Battersea Power Station: Councillors refuse to attend opening
The redeveloped Grade II-listed building is set to open to the public on 14 October.
www.bbc.co.uk
RoyReed
Must fly!
BBC article on BPS: Battersea Power Station opens after decades of decay
The final summing up: "What they have done is spiritually desolate."
The final summing up: "What they have done is spiritually desolate."
ska invita
back on the other side
thoughts?
pseudonarcissus
fluttering and dancing
oh, a Starbucks...how wonderful
I guess being turned into a 2nd rate shopping precinct was inevitable..probably better than being knocked down completely, which seemed likely at one stage.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
What's open so far is basically a shopping centre. But there's a large chunk (the middle section, and the upper levels) that are still closed off. So we're not really seeing the finished thing yet.
Don't think there's much point me going on about whether it should have been something else, or whether there should be more affordable housing, or whatever. Those arguments have all already been had.
First time to approach it from the south. There's a kind of canyon-like pedestrian street that runs towards the big central entrance on the south side. This street is also not complete - I guess it will run to Battersea Park Rd eventually? It goes between the various new housing blocks including the Frank Gehry ones. There's been quite a lot of criticism (probably including from me in the past) about how much stuff - high rise housing blocks mainly - has been packed around the building, such that it is quite hemmed in on three sides (two sides at the moment - blocks to the eastern side are yet to be built up). Actually in reality I think I'm ok with this though. In fact I quite enjoyed the approach along the canyon - you get glimpses of the power station as you go along; it somehow emphasises its size, and it's only when you're quite close you see the whole thing and it has some impact. A lot of people are snooty about the Gehry blocks but I don't mind these either; I think they set off the severe brickwork of the power station quite well. I don't know what they are like inside of course, or how they will weather. Most of the other blocks are fairly boring (but I'm also kind of OK with the ones that are pretty much just a glass wall to the west, inbetween the PS and the railway tracks).
Inside ... once you've accepted it's a shopping centre - I didn't have really strong feelings either way. I didn't hate it, I wasn't absolutely amazed by it. It's perhaps kind of what I'd have expected. Bits of the restored original building are visible; they in themselves are very nice. Could argue about whether there's too much intervention from new elements. There has to be some new stuff if you're not going to just have an empty shell. The west turbine hall is the nicer one. It's the one in the photos above. Unlike in Tate Modern, it's not been left essentially empty - those walkways have been put in along all sides - so you lose some of the sense of the vertical space. it's a shame the big pillaster columns get interrupted by walkways for example. But... having decided that's what's going to happen, it's not been done in a terrible way.
It reminded me a bit of a building I saw in Paris earlier in the year
www.dezeen.com
(the restored older bits of it)
That restoration has been done very well - slightly earlier building, and it was always a department store, so not directly comparable. But similar in a few ways nonetheless. I actually was quite moved when I saw that Paris one. This doesn't happen all that often, although I look at a lot of buildings. Maybe it was just that I was sleep deprived. But anyway it is very beautiful inside. I didn't get the same feeling inside Battersea Power Station today ... even though it's a great building and long one of my favourites in London. So, whatever they have done, they haven't quite pulled it off such that it provoked me to a sense of awe or wonder (which maybe I was hoping it might). But - I'm going to reserve judgement until the rest of it is opened.
It's not a second-rate shopping centre. If I was going to go to a shopping centre, there's no doubt I'd choose BPS over Westfield (and it seems aimed at a Westfield-ish market to me).
Don't think there's much point me going on about whether it should have been something else, or whether there should be more affordable housing, or whatever. Those arguments have all already been had.
First time to approach it from the south. There's a kind of canyon-like pedestrian street that runs towards the big central entrance on the south side. This street is also not complete - I guess it will run to Battersea Park Rd eventually? It goes between the various new housing blocks including the Frank Gehry ones. There's been quite a lot of criticism (probably including from me in the past) about how much stuff - high rise housing blocks mainly - has been packed around the building, such that it is quite hemmed in on three sides (two sides at the moment - blocks to the eastern side are yet to be built up). Actually in reality I think I'm ok with this though. In fact I quite enjoyed the approach along the canyon - you get glimpses of the power station as you go along; it somehow emphasises its size, and it's only when you're quite close you see the whole thing and it has some impact. A lot of people are snooty about the Gehry blocks but I don't mind these either; I think they set off the severe brickwork of the power station quite well. I don't know what they are like inside of course, or how they will weather. Most of the other blocks are fairly boring (but I'm also kind of OK with the ones that are pretty much just a glass wall to the west, inbetween the PS and the railway tracks).
Inside ... once you've accepted it's a shopping centre - I didn't have really strong feelings either way. I didn't hate it, I wasn't absolutely amazed by it. It's perhaps kind of what I'd have expected. Bits of the restored original building are visible; they in themselves are very nice. Could argue about whether there's too much intervention from new elements. There has to be some new stuff if you're not going to just have an empty shell. The west turbine hall is the nicer one. It's the one in the photos above. Unlike in Tate Modern, it's not been left essentially empty - those walkways have been put in along all sides - so you lose some of the sense of the vertical space. it's a shame the big pillaster columns get interrupted by walkways for example. But... having decided that's what's going to happen, it's not been done in a terrible way.
It reminded me a bit of a building I saw in Paris earlier in the year
SANAA's overhaul of La Samaritaine department store opens in Paris
The iconic La Samaritaine department store has reopened in Paris, France, following an extensive renovation led by Pritzker Prize-winning studio SANAA that includes a new undulating glass facade.
(the restored older bits of it)
That restoration has been done very well - slightly earlier building, and it was always a department store, so not directly comparable. But similar in a few ways nonetheless. I actually was quite moved when I saw that Paris one. This doesn't happen all that often, although I look at a lot of buildings. Maybe it was just that I was sleep deprived. But anyway it is very beautiful inside. I didn't get the same feeling inside Battersea Power Station today ... even though it's a great building and long one of my favourites in London. So, whatever they have done, they haven't quite pulled it off such that it provoked me to a sense of awe or wonder (which maybe I was hoping it might). But - I'm going to reserve judgement until the rest of it is opened.
It's not a second-rate shopping centre. If I was going to go to a shopping centre, there's no doubt I'd choose BPS over Westfield (and it seems aimed at a Westfield-ish market to me).
bimble
floofy
i'm a bit confused by the ceiling, is it finished? Is it like that because there are flats up there on the sides?
eta yes it'll be the flats & gardens lining both sides of the roof that are taking the light which feels like it wanted to stream down into the space below.
It looks elegant but also looks like a very carefully calculated compromise, which probably inevitable.
eta yes it'll be the flats & gardens lining both sides of the roof that are taking the light which feels like it wanted to stream down into the space below.
It looks elegant but also looks like a very carefully calculated compromise, which probably inevitable.
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teuchter
je suis teuchter
The long hall in my photo is the west Turbine Hall. Outlined in pink on the drawings below.
I think the ceiling is finished. You can sort of see in the section that there is stuff above the solid bits.
The chunk in the middle (numbered 3, Boiler House) is not open yet.
I think the ceiling is finished. You can sort of see in the section that there is stuff above the solid bits.
The chunk in the middle (numbered 3, Boiler House) is not open yet.
hash tag
Books, not bombs
Westfield! I thought Battersea was going to be designer high stuff, Chanel, Stella McCartney, Louis Vuitton etc.
Perhaps I won't be rushing there when I get home after all.
shifting gears
Well-Known Member
I enjoyed this thread - photos from someone who used to explore it at night while it was derelict!
Cloo
Banana for scale
I went around the outside of it early this summer. The general area around felt very too-big-for-human scale and extremely devoid of people actually living there, though the waterfront bit was quite nice. I imagine the opened mall will make it livelier - I'll probably go see it before the end of the year. It overall looks like, for a shopping mall adaptation, it could definitely be worse and at least they're tried to keep some of the feel and features of the original (something I suspect they wouldn't have done 20 years back). I can't see it being wildly successful though, especially under current economic conditions - the demographic it's aiming at won't be struggling to eat exactly, but I think a lot of it will still have to be cutting back on eating out and big spends.
for somewhere more affordable, cross the road to the Patmore.
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
My grandad worked in the power station for almost 30 years. I wanted to hate it. But I didn’t. Could have been worse.
ETA, they have definitely gone for a soft opening. The boiler house isn't open (i think that will be the food court, the observation lift isn't running yet, they were testing it today and only two thirds of the shopping centre was open. Could have been better but could have been a whole lot worse....
ETA, they have definitely gone for a soft opening. The boiler house isn't open (i think that will be the food court, the observation lift isn't running yet, they were testing it today and only two thirds of the shopping centre was open. Could have been better but could have been a whole lot worse....
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teuchter
je suis teuchter
I hope you at least marched into a few of the fancier shops and told some bemused 19 year old sales assistants this fact.
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
Next time I go I'm having a tee shirt made with it on the front.
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