Battersea Power Station

The Battersea Power Station is one of the first large powerplants of England. The production was stopped in 1983, it is today a London historical building.

Site

Battersea Power Station is located at the south-west of London, on southern bank of the the Thames, SW11, not far from the railway lines leading to Victoria Station.

History

With the whole beginning of the diffusion of electricity, private companies partagaient the market, which made the cover more or less dense according to the places. In the years 1920, the government then decided to create a company of state which would manage the whole of the network. This decision raised reactions in the producers of electricity. And privatization will be done only later (??). A group of producers gathered then to form a company able to build very large power stations for London, it will be the birth of London Power Company (1925).

The first project is drawn by Gilles Gilbert Scott, the same one as that of the power station of Southwark (current the Tate Modern). At the beginning, it is equipped only with two chimneys with an interior Art déco, its hard construction of 1929 with 1939 and the second part is added between 1953 and 1955 of the same appearance concerning outside. The oldest part is stopped in 1975 and most recent in 1983. Since, a park with topic would have to be born but only advance in work was in 1988 to bore the roof to leave the machinery and the building remained in the same state since. It became a place of pilgrimage for the fans of Pink Floyd, the powerplant being illustrated on one their albums, Animals .

Future

Parkview has invests 500 million books to build panoramic hotels, apartments, restaurants and even a theater and a cinema on the site declared historical heritage in 1980. A railway bond with the station Victoria is envisaged.

Culture

It was useful for occasions like concerts, a turning of film and to accommodate the Cirque of the sun.

The building was used for the photography of the album Animals as Pink Floyd, included in the film Sons of man .

External bonds

Official site of Battersea Power Station
Information and images of Battersea Power Station
Card on the site Structurae

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