ART

AN AMBITIOUS PROJECT FOR LONDON’S BATTERSEA POWER STATION

By Crash redaction

« We don’t do ordinary ». At the global launch of Battersea Power Station at the British Embassy in Paris on Wednesday, October 29th, the hosts had set the tone for the whole event. The Battersea Power Station is one of London’s most iconic buildings. Designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott – father of the emblematic red telephone boxes – in the early 1930s and put to use in 1933, the Power Station functioned for fifty years until 1983. Today, it remains a symbol of the British culture and has hosted many cultural events such as concerts, festivals or parties and served as the setting for movies like « The King’s Speech » or « The Dark Knight ».

With a 17-hectare site and estimated budget of 10 billions euros, this represent the biggest urban planning project in the world. To see this through, Battersea Power Station can count on the collaboration of world-renowned architects: Rafael Vinoly, Frank Gehry and Norman Foster, each in charge of different areas of the project. Vinoly’s vision is to create an actual community around the Power Station itself, which will be completely revamped with six floors dedicated to the best British and international brands, large event venues, cinemas and office spaces. Frank Gehry and Norman Foster will take charge of the design of buildings dedicated to residential homes on both sides of the Power Station. On one side, Frank Gehry will conceive five flower-shaped buildings hosting unique private homes, some with petal-like terraces. On the other side of the Power Station, Norman Foster is designing an immense curved building with an equally long rooftop garden for its residents to enjoy. It represents a total of 1350 homes.

The entire site is thought to give a balance between residential, office, retail and public space. 325 000 square meters will be dedicated to companies, stores and restaurants and 40 millions people are expected to visit the site each year. Battersea Power Station aims to become London’s newest business center with more than 150 000 square meters dedicated to office places and will offer a great load of public spaces and gardens. As said during the launch event, « the principal target today is to make Battersea Power Station a thriving, sustainable and vibrant community ». A city in the city – Battersea Power Station definitely doesn’t do ordinary.