Following my visits to the redevelopments of the Exhibition Road Quarter in South Kensington, Paddington Basin and Kings Cross, this year it was the turn of Battersea Power Station. Arriving at Sloane Square Underground, I walked up King's Road and turned left to Albert Bridge. Then back along the Chelsea Embankment to Chelsea Bridge. A little further on to the Grosvenor Railway Bridge where I took the above photo across to the huge building site that is Battersea Power Station.
Back to Chelsea Bridge and over the River Thames to the entrance at Grosvenor Arch and into Circus West Village that is now open. There is a nice map on the Battersea Power Station website under "Getting Here".
Here there are restaurants, cafe's and shops nestling against the hoardings to one of the largest construction projects in Europe. Battersea Power Station. This is what I had come to see.
Although all the existing brickwork is being retained, the elevation above is all brand new, matching beautifully the original facades. The whole project is superbly organised, fourteen tower cranes and this is one of the classy hoists.
It was time for a break and I found a Coffee Works Project for a decaff cappuccino and a falafel wrap. This was the view from my table with the view through to the building site.
There are already some landscape areas and a water feature.
On the hoardings are some items from the old Power Station.
There are places to sit and a small viewing ramp where I could see back across the river.
What I have missed describing are the huge apartment complexes, some of which are open and some under construction, all to help fund the enormously expensive redevelopment of the Power Station. It will all be quite something when it is complete. And those towers? They are completely new but in an identical construction as the original!
It was then time to head back to Sloane Square to get to Kensington High Street and the Design Museum and my next post.
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