Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA), a multidisciplinary firm specialising in the planning and design of museums, exhibits, educational environments and visitor attractions, is celebrating the first anniversary of the opening of Battersea Power Station’s unique chimney lift experience, Lift 109.
Lift 109, which launched in November 2022, has ascended the building’s northwest chimney nearly 20,000 times. In this, the lift has covered 2000 kilometres – or twice the length of the United Kingdom. As part of its ‘Lift 109 Lates’ offering, the attraction has also hosted a number of sold-out events such as ‘Sundown Sessions’ and ‘Full Moon Manifestation Workshops’. The attraction has attracted critical acclaim, winning a Red Dot Award 2023 for Exhibition Design.
Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA) was the lead designer of the exhibition within the new chimney lift experience at Battersea Power Station, with media design input and production from Squint/Opera and the lift design and build by Otis.
WilkinsonEyre was the lead architect on the restoration of the Power Station itself, including a full rebuild of the iconic chimneys, using the original construction methods from the 1930s and 1950s.
Phillip Tefft, director of RAA’s London studio, says: “We’re honoured to have designed this one-of-a-kind experience at a timeless London icon. Celebrating the Power Station’s innovative design and its role as London’s industrial and cultural powerhouse fuelled our creative design approach.
“Through the careful orchestration of dynamic lighting, generative media, graphic design, and materiality, our design will immerse visitors in the immense Power of Battersea and help them gain a new perspective on London’s skyline and this historic landmark that has captured public imagination for almost 90 years.”
Visionary development
Battersea Power Station (BPS) is at the heart of one of central London’s largest, most visionary and eagerly anticipated new developments, which is seeing this vast 42-acre (over 8 million sq ft) former industrial brownfield site become home to a community of homes, shops, cafes, offices and over 19 acres of public space. This project is creating a vibrant, mixed-use development, a new neighbourhood and business quarter for London serviced by an extension to the London Underground Northern Line.
The overall project is divided into eight phases, with each designed by a range of specialist architects. These include SimpsonHaugh and Partners and De Rijke Marsh Morgan (dRMM) in Circus West Village (Phase 1), WilkinsonEyre in Battersea Power Station (Phase 2), and Foster + Partners and Gehry Partners in Electric Boulevard, which is made up of Battersea Roof Gardens and Prospect Place (Phase 3).
Construction work officially began on 4 July 2013, which marked the 80th anniversary of this historic building first generating power. The Power Station itself opened for the first time to the public on Friday 14 October 2022 and has since welcomed over 11 million visitors.
Across the 42-acre site, a new 24/7 community is being formed with over 250 shops, cafes
and restaurants, a theatre, hotel, events venue, a 24,000 sq ft food hall within the Power
Station, a medical centre, and 19 acres of public space including 450 metres of river
frontage and a six-acre public park.
Work on the new Northern Line Extension (NLE) began in 2015 and Battersea Power Station Underground Station opened on 20 September 2021. In the first year following its launch, over 5 million journeys were taken on the NLE.
25,000 people will be living and working on-site when complete, creating one of London’s largest office, retail, leisure and cultural quarters. BPS will be a new office district with over 3m sq. ft of commercial space alongside new private and affordable homes.
The Battersea Power Station site is owned by a consortium of Malaysian investors comprising PNB, Sime Darby Property, S P Setia and the Employees’ Provident Fund. The development management of the project is being undertaken by British-based, Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC).
Celebrating Battersea Power Station’s heritage
When designing the Power Station one of the overarching principles was to retain and showcase as much of the original building as possible, while paying homage to its history and Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s vision.
To this end, the development exposes the listed fabric and creates new and dramatic spaces within the building to excite and delight visitors. After 30 years of careful restoration and being saved from dereliction, the Power Station was removed from Historic England’s at Risk Register in November 2021.
Renowned architectural firm WilkinsonEyre was invited to complete the comprehensive design of the Power Station as part of the restoration team in 2013. Mace was the Power Station’s Construction Manager, and the residential interiors were designed by London-based interior designer Michaelis Boyd Architects in a ‘refined industrial’ style that is a tribute to the building’s history.
The chimneys are the Battersea Power Station site’s DNA. They are an internationally recognised landmark on the London skyline, and their reconstruction was the first and highest priority in the iconic Power Station’s restoration.
50 years of releasing flue gases from one of the biggest coal-fired power plants of its kind on the planet had taken their toll on the chimneys. As a result, they have undergone meticulous disassembly and reconstruction in accordance with the exact specifications of the original chimneys. The chimneys’ lifespan is now equal to that of the renovated building.
The project team ensured that the rebuilt chimneys are exactly like their forebears and will continue to shape the London skyline for many years to come by using the original architects’ drawings and specifications. The disassembly and restoration process started in 2014, and by 2017, all four chimneys had been completely rebuilt and repainted.
Iconic landmark
Lift 109 is a one-of-a-kind experience that takes tourists 109 metres up to the top of Battersea Power Station’s northwest chimney, and provides breathtaking 360-degree views across London.
Before entering Lift 109, visitors can enjoy a cutting-edge immersive exhibition in Turbine Hall A, which celebrates the Grade II* listed building’s historical and cultural impact.
RAA has created a compelling experience that integrates carefully crafted narratives of architectural innovation, industrial power, and popular culture, connecting visitors to the enduring icon of Battersea Power Station. It then transports them upwards for breathtaking panoramic views across the capital.
As soon as visitors walk into the spectacular, restored Art Deco Turbine Hall A of the Power Station, they are captivated by two large screens that border the level one exhibition space and showcase emotive media which describes how the Power Station has been a catalyst for “Powering Imagination” since 1933. Between these big panels is a concise chronology with images and content, which eloquently expresses the “Power of Battersea” to change and reinvent itself over time.
“Powering London,” an enormous multiplayer interactive table and a dynamic suspended lighting installation reminiscent of a turbine, take centre stage in the space and story. Here, visitors are invited to learn about the creation and control of energy at Battersea Power Station, which formerly produced 20% of London’s electricity. As guests engage with the touchscreen table and “generate” energy together, the lighting installation above spins and shines brighter.
With the help of an extensive collection of stories, pictures, videos, and interviews, “Powering Design” gives visitors an in-depth look at the revolutionary architecture of Battersea Power Station from the 1920s to the present. In the “Powering Culture” section, they will also learn about the rich cultural history of the building via a carefully chosen collection of media and original recordings that discuss the Power Station’s role as both the setting and the inspiration for a number of music videos, concerts, films, and cultural events.
An exciting countdown marks the start of the next phase of the experience. Visitors enter an interactive 360-degree media space where energy particles swirl, rise and fall, and speed up in response to their touch, changing the focus from discovery and information to feeling and emotion.
Express lifts are used for the first half of the ascent, during which time an immersive soundtrack shares a sense of energy building and ascending with the guests. It takes just 30 seconds to reach the base of the chimney, where guests can use QR codes to access information and stories.
After entering the chimney, guests continue their ascent via a second circular glass lift while immersed in dynamic lighting set to a soundtrack which evokes rising energy. As Lift 109 reaches the apex, a spectacular 360-degree panorama over London opens up which has never been seen from this western viewpoint before. At the top, visitors can interact with the city’s famous skyline by using QR code-activated AR technology and a graphic ring that reveal details about some of London’s most famous landmarks.
Visitors can admire the amazing engineering and architecture of the Chimney Lift as it descends, with a halo of gentle white light highlighting its details and textures. Cultural references build an understanding of Battersea Power Station’s iconic status and inspire guests to purchase souvenirs of the Power Station from the fully RAA-designed retail area.
The full project team included:
Lead Consultant Exhibition Design and Art Direction of Media: Ralph Appelbaum
Associates
Media Design Input and Production: Squint Opera
Architect: Wilkinson Eyre
Lift Engineering/Design: OTIS (main lift) and Schindler (express lifts)
Audiovisual Hardware Design and Engineering: Sysco
Lighting Design: Michael Grubb Studios
Security and MEP Consultant: Steensen Varming
Project Management and QS: Fraser Randall
Lead Contractor: Beck
Destination Strategy: Place Bureau
Photographs: Andrew Lee; Joshua Atkins; John Sturrock; Brendan Bell
Last month, Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA) celebrated the redevelopment of the Midleton Distillery Experience in County Cork, Ireland. This collaboration with Irish Distillers has created a world-class, multisensory Irish whiskey experience attraction.
Top image kind courtesy of Andrew Lee
