Recharging at Battersea Powerstation
That same evening, I was determined not to miss a delightful Ash Wednesday service, with only lower voices, which my son F was part of. It was a calm finish to a crazy day. I also had to attend as I need to be close to my wife in case I had any further issues from my head injury.
The morning was glorious and I was keen to get some sun. Where better to start the recuperation than a slow cycle through Battersea Park to the iconic Battersea Power Station.
As I entered the well maintained and modern surrounds of the Powerstation, I was greeted with a group exercising to loud music in the Bear Grylls workout centre. My sore head made me wince at the site.
I began my time here lapping up the sun on the old “Coal Jetty” where 240 tonnes of coal was delivered per hour during the power station's heyday of doing what it was originally created for - generating power for the city. There used to be conveyor belts that took the coal up to the Boiler Room (now a swanky bar).
Having rested up here, I gingerly walked up to the main entrance where the scale of the structure hit me.
As I wondered in, the architectural care to preserve the structure struck me. No wonder it cost so much!
The atmosphere was ideal for recharging oneself. It was eerily empty. The clean lines, calm lighting, modern neon shop fronts and the sheer feeling of space from the open plan layout and being able to take in the structure internally from floor to the ceiling, made it immediately soothing to my sore head.
As I approached the other side of the complex I was greeted by a neat little exhibition that showed the trials and tribulations of previous architects and companies to re-purpose this Grade II listed space. Having the time to finally absorb this info, I found that the complex is now owned by a Malaysian Consortium. Now I understood what it reminded me of - the modern, sleek designs of the Asian mega city - Kuala Lumpur. A trip which the family enjoyed immensely owing to its clean and modern design plus its cheap prices! It was bought in 2012 and was finally opened on 2022.
The current low rise development by architects WilkinsonEyre (using original designs of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott - inventor of the red telephone box - as AG was quick to remind me of over a drink) seems tame compared to some of the older designs proposed.
For around 40 years, architects tried and failed to come up with ideas for the site with film shoots and pop concerts taking place in between.
The first owner was John Broome who purchased it for a bargain price of £1.5M! Same price as a standard terrace house in London nowadays. He was the owner of Alton Towers and wanted to create a theme park here! Thankfully this fell through due to costs around preserving the structure.
Other ideas came and went, with money always being the main factor. Architect Cedric Price wanted to demolish the whole thing and only support the chimneys with steels. Terry Farrel proposed retaining only the exterior and surrounding it by a public park. In 2006, after yet another change of ownership to REO, architect Rafael Vinoly wanted to expand the area and build an EcoDome around the structure, with a huge tower on top. Thankfully, this grand Centre Parks with the tower eyesore idea also fell through.
In the end it took a whopping £9bn and a bunch of Malaysian companies to sort the place out, but I think it was worth the cost and wait. It has regenerated this once dead area into a modern welcoming space, a Westfield with architecture and a view. It will take time to recoup the costs and is considered a bit of a burden by the owners, but for me is a perfect sport to relax and revive with amazing Thames views and the iconic structure preserved.
As a reminder of how much this area has developed, this is a picture by US artist Whistler (Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Cremorne Lights 1872 Tate Britain) of how the area looked before the Powerstation even existed!
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