Battersea Power Station has stood empty for years awaiting development and approval of plans. Now it’s been announced that in October 2013, conversion into new homes will finally begin thirty years after the energy station closed. The Battersea Power Station Development Company is behind the venture and responsible for the restoration of the Grade II listed building.

The restoration project will come across millions of pounds and will have to include much major repair work before any renovation is really undertaken. The initial phase of the building work is to fix the external brickwork, clean the towers, do work to the steel frame, repair and replace windows and defeat and rebuild the famous chimneys. The chimneys will be reconstructed to the exact same design but utilising the latest safety and structural standards. The theory is to help keep the building looking the exact same and as a star of London.

A unique team has been put together to work on the internet 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 initial phase is rumoured to be worth around £400 million and will be one of many largest in London at the existing time. Carillion is one of many UK’s largest construction firms and already has a number of high profile development schemes udder its belt such as for instance Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport and Crossrail and the Royal Liverpool Hospital Project.

The initial phase will be referred to 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. CN505 power station  There may also be shops, commercial units, cultural buildings an d community spaces. When completed the entire development can provide a lot more than 3,500 new homes. It may also produce a large quantity 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 a classic coal-fired power station on the lender of the Thames river, in South-West London. It is really two individual power stations that were built at different occuring times but within one building. The initial part was built in the 1930’s and the 2nd part 20 years later. They have the identical design giving the iconic 4 chimney look. The ability station stopped making electric in 1983 and has stood empty ever since. However appearances in a variety of 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 an original landmark for London.

Before the 1930’s it absolutely was for the local councils to produce electric and so there have been small power stations to do the job for different districts and the energy was useful for a particular factory or industry and excess was sold to the public. However as they certainly were small places the standard and voltage and frequency of the energy differed greatly. In 1925 the Government decided there ought to be one single power grid with uniform standards. The London Power Company was formed from several of the smaller power suppliers.

Their first super power station was built at Battersea as the proximity to the river allowed for easy cooling of the systems and good for delivery of the coal and was in the center of London to produce electric to. There is much opposition on the lands that the building could be an eye-sore so the business earned a famous architect to design the exterior. When it opened it absolutely was the most thermally efficient power station in the world. It absolutely was built in 2 stage and by enough time the 2nd phase was completed the UK’s electric supply had been nationalised and ownership was passed to the British Electricity Authority.

There has been a number of redevelopment plans through the years as different companies took over the site. In 2004 there is a redevelopment project in the pipe line but the present debts of over £750 million, the requirement that any development must include a £200 million contribution to a proposed extension of the London Underground, the need for a waste transfer plant and cement factory on the banks of the river and the conversation required, made it an unattractive investment and an arduous commercial project.

In 2006 it absolutely was bought by an Irish company for £400 million. They initially planned to refurbish the site right into a public venue and housing. The program was granted permission to go ahead but the Irish company’s debts meant the administrations were called in at the conclusion of December 2011 and in July 2012 it absolutely was sold to a Malaysian owned consortium for the exact same amount as the Irish company bought it for. Most interested parties simply wished to demolish the structure and redevelop the land and it’s took careful negotiation to discover a firm willing to undertake the conservation and refurbishment, while creating a commercial venture.