AS THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE SITE FINALLY GETS UNDERWAY, SIMON MOORE FIRES UP THE FURNACES ONCE MORE TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE ICONIC BATTERSEA POWER STATION he effect is incredible. Even now at eighty years old, frail and crumbling, held together with scaffolds, Battersea Power Station is still a towering masterpiece in brick and steel. It’s actually two stations: Battersea A and Battersea B, each one the mirror image of the other. They’ve lain dormant these last 30 years, but that
proud, looming presence over the Thames has cast its spell on London, Britain and the world – when it was first unveiled, it cemented our international reputation for bold, innovative design. That was the late 1930s. Before then, electricity was seen as an erratic, largely unreliable commodity, supplied by any number of companies with wholly unpredictable standards
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of voltage and frequency. So, our ever-vigilant Parliament put their heads together and, in 1925, decided it should all be standardised under a local grid owned by the public. The London Power Company soon appeared, alongside some plans for a very large station on the south bank of the Thames. 15 acres were set aside in Battersea, right in the heart of London, where this new station would eventually supply the city with a fifth of its power. There were concerns, however. Protesters warned of toxic fumes choking the capital, corroding buildings, even damaging paintings in the nearby Tate gallery. Many feared it would be a colossal
eyesore; a blight on the London skyline. So the LPC did a very clever thing. They hired Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. This architectural genius had already designed some of Britain’s most iconic structures, from the gothic grandeur of Liverpool Cathedral to the innovative simplicity of the red telephone box. Now he worked with chief engineer and architect Dr Leonard Pearce to turn a potential eyesore into something resembling a brick cathedral. Scott played a key role in the design process, creating some of its most distinctive features. Sheer walls were
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