Battersea Power Station, on the south bank of the River Thames in Nine Elms, Battersea, is a decommissioned coal-fired power station located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It was built by the London Power Company (LPC) to the design of Leonard Pearce, Engineer in Chief to the LPC, and CS Allott & Son Engineers. The architects were J. Theo Halliday and Giles Gilbert Scott (who was the architect for Liverpool Anglican Cathedral). The station is one of the world's largest brick buildings and notable for its original, Art Deco interior fittings and decor.
The building comprises two power stations, built in two stages, in a single building. Battersea A Power Station was built between 1929 and 1935 and Battersea B Power Station, to its east, between 1937 and 1941, when construction was paused owing to the worsening effects of the Second World War. The building was completed in 1955. "Battersea B" was built to a design nearly identical to that of "Battersea A", creating the iconic four-chimney structure.
"Battersea A" was decommissioned in 1975. In 1980 the whole structure was given Grade II listed status; "Battersea B" shut three years later.
In 1977 the Power Station appeared on the cover of the Pink Floyd album ‘Animals’ along with a floating pig moored above the structure.
In 2007 its listed status was upgraded to Grade II. The building remained empty until 2014, during which time it fell into near ruin. Various plans were made to make use of the building, but none were successful.
In 2012, administrators Ernst & Young entered into an agreement with Malaysia's S P Setia and Sime Darby to develop the site to include residential, bars, restaurants, office space (occupied by Apple and others), shops and entertainment spaces.
The Power Station complex hosted outside the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations with deckchairs provided on a green outside the building, along with entertainment, which included the Queen’s baton pass for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, which was held in Birmingham, UK that summer.
The Uber Boat by Thames Clipper river ferry stops at the Battersea Power Station pier (going on all the way onto Putney with some boats) and on its return goes through Central London to North Greenwich, and on selected days goes onto Barking Riverside.
The main Power Station building was opened to the public, with its shops and restaurants in October 2022, with the building phase completed in 2023. As of 2023, the building and the overall 42-acre (17 ha) site development is owned by a consortium of Malaysian investors.
One of the towers now has a lift (Lift 109) in the front right tower which is open as a visitor attraction with views from the top as well as a shop.
Source: Wikipedia
