Located Thames-side, the iconic smokestacks of Battersea Power Station have marked the western edge of central London since the 1930s. When constructed, the boiler halls were among the largest brick buildings in history. For the next 50 years, the coal-fired power plant generated electricity for the city.
After decommissioning in the mid-1980s, the power station remained empty as various ideas for the land and the buildings were proposed, investigated, and eventually discarded. But in late-2022, nearly 40 years after it ceased generating power, the Battersea Power Station reopened as a mixed-use development, featuring apartments, commercial office space, and shopping and restaurants.
The redevelopment is impressive – most of the original buildings have been maintained, and walking in the huge boiler halls is a reminder of the scale of the original machinery that was installed there. And the facility has already attracted top-tier tenants, with Apple announcing plans to consolidate all of its London-based workforce in new offices there. The Underground was extended to connect the Power Station to the rest of the city, and gleaming towers of new apartments now surround the original buildings.
One of our favorite things about London is the way the city combines the new and the old, and the Battersea Power Station is a perfect example of what can result when redevelopment is done well.
