Thursday 15 August 2019

The Art of Architecture - Battersea Power Station


The second in the Sky Arts series on The Art of Architecture featured Battersea Power Station. Whilst the first about the New York World Trade Centre Transportation Hub featured an in depth interview with architect Santiago Calatrava , it had very little about the construction. Whereas this one about Battersea Power Station was filled with very interesting (to me) sections about matching the new with the old.

The architect is WilkinsonEyre who also designed the reconstruction of the gas holders at Kings Cross. It was Jim Eyre who described how the Battersea building is such a complicated redevelopment featuring retail, apartments and offices within the shell of the old complex. And we were shown many of the features in the construction phase.

The overall development (including the brand new apartment and office buildings that finance the whole project) is £8 Billion. The brick structure is the largest in Europe and required 1.7 million new imperial sized bricks to match the existing. I loved how one of the team tracked down the original manufacturer Blockleys.

The chimneys were completely rebuilt but using the identical materials and type of construction as the originals. One will have a glass lift to a viewing platform at the top. I can't wait!


There are 16 tower cranes and numerous hoists on site requiring 44 crane drivers. I like this photo taken at night.


It was hard to find a photo inside the building but here is one.


This is what the shopping mall will look like.


There will be 69 lifts and 20 escalators. What I could not find was a photo of the four service cores that will house lifts, stairs and mechanical and electrical services. I had to watch the programme again to make sure that I wasn't dreaming. These are photos taken from the TV. The four rectangular concrete towers are the cores.



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