New £4bn plans for Battersea Power Station in London have been revealed.
The disused, Grade II-listed building has been the subject of redevelopment schemes since 1984, but none of the plans have come to fruition. Now, details of yet another new project – the brainchild of Irish group Treasury Holdings, which bought the site in 2006 for 595m euro (then £400m) – have been announced.
Real Estate Opportunities (REO) – which is 67 per cent owned by Treasury Holdings – appointed New York-based architect Rafael Viñoly to design a masterplan for the power station in April last year, and the Uruguayan-born designer has come up with a £4bn eco-dome featuring a 300m high glass chimney, to sit alongside the existing site.
The 38-acre development will house 8 million sq ft (743,200sq m) of residential (including hotels), office and retail space, featuring 500,000sq ft (46,400sq m) of leisure and cultural space. There will also be a six-acre public park and an urban square.
The dome will be "the cleanest and greenest building in London", as it will use natural ventilation, with air entering the building at ground level and leaving through the chimney, eliminating the need for air-conditioning for the commercial and ground floor space.
The existing building will undergo a £150m facelift, with key historic spaces retained and opened to the public. It will be developed to incorporate hotel, retail and residential accommodation and will once once again produce energy – using renewable energy sources rather than coal.
Rob Tincknell, managing director of REO's development manager, Treasury Holdings
UK, said: "This will be a power station for the 21st century, sitting alongside Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's building and supporting a truly sustainable, zero carbon development.
"We believe that we all have a responsibility to commit to true sustainability through
groundbreaking innovation and we believe that our development will enhance London’s reputation as a leading global city.
"The preservation of Battersea Power Station alongside contemporary architecture will enhance its importance by juxtaposing old and new. Londoners have a strong emotional attachment to this building, but most of all they want to see something positive happening on this site. We will meet and exceed their expectations."
The ambitious project rests on whether a new tube station can be built – likely to be part of an extension of the Northern Line with two stops – which would cost around £350m and would be paid for by REO and local landowners.
A planning application is due to be submitted by the beginning of next year at the latest. If the planning process runs smoothly, work will start in 2012 and be completed by 2020.
