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The opening of Battersea Power Station and Electric Boulevard

Transforming Battersea Power Station

The iconic London landmark is now a unique retailtainment destination with lots to offer, including the immersive Lift 109 experience

Battersea Power Station opened its doors again at the end of last year, almost 40 years after being decommissioned in 1983.

Following an elaborate 8-year restoration project, the Grade II landmark is now a unique leisure and retail complex. Inside, visitors can explore the power station‘s restored historic Turbine Halls.

Electric Boulevard, a new pedestrianised high street to the south of the power station, has also opened. Meanwhile, London-based experiential hospitality company Inception Group has launched a bar, Control Room B, in one of the original control rooms.

https://youtu.be/63oC3HdN3eE

A cutting-edge immersive exhibition at Battersea Power Station honours the Grade II listed structure’s history and cultural heritage. The exhibition, located in Turbine Hall A, is a precursor to the magnificent Lift 109. This offers unrivalled 360-degree views of London from the top of the station’s northwest chimney.

A new lease of life for Battersea Power Station

Sam Cotton Battersea Power Station

Sam Cotton is head of asset management at Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC). He spoke to blooloop about the goal and vision of the eight-year restoration project:

“Our aim was to give the iconic London landmark a new lease of life, and open it up to the public for the first time in history, so all can enjoy it for years to come. All whilst respecting and maintaining as much of the Grade II listed building’s heritage.”

Special thanks, he says, must go to the shareholders. Their continued support and determination made it possible to restore the Power Station to its former glory, transforming it into one of London’s most unique and exciting new retail and leisure destinations. He adds:

“From a leasing perspective, our vision from the beginning was to create a destination that offered a mix of leading British and international brands, as well as independent and up-and-coming brands, with every customer’s needs considered.”

Circus West Village

Circus West Village, the first chapter in the regeneration of Battersea Power Station, opened in 2017.

Electric-Boulevard-London
Electric Boulevard © Brendan Bell

The focus was to work with and support smaller, independent bars, restaurants, shops and leisure venues. This helped build a sense of community. It also put Battersea Power Station on the map as an exciting new riverside neighbourhood for London:

“Circus West Village acted as a ‘shop window’ for the Power Station and Electric Boulevard, a new pedestrianised high street for the Capital. We have continued to work with smaller, more independent retailers in these two phases of the development.

“We are also expanding our offering by introducing some larger, more established brands. This includes Nike, Adidas, Ace + Tate, Theory, Sweaty Betty, Mango, Uniqlo and Zara, to name a few.”

An iconic building

Battersea Power Station is an iconic building. As such, it was important to retain the building’s character and to do it justice.

Battersea Power Station - Historic Image
© Ian Lidell

“Battersea Power Station holds a very special place in many people’s hearts, particularly members of the local community,” he comments:

“There were numerous failed attempts to redevelop the site before our shareholders took over the project in 2012. So, trust and belief that the building would be restored to its former glory were low. This did mean that there was a lot of pressure to restore the building respectfully, whilst transforming its use into a new retail and leisure destination that has something for everyone.”

Keeping the character of Battersea Power Station

Battersea Power Station - Historic
© Ian Lidell

“The two Turbine Halls are excellent examples of how the building’s character has been retained with their original crane gantries, steel beams, water gauges and faience tiles still on display, whilst at the same time being adapted for modern use.

“The building’s character is also clearly visible in the Boiler House atriums. Here, the Power Station’s original brickwork has been left untouched to showcase the building’s industrial heritage.”

The Boiler House sits at the heart of the building. In addition to being home to 500,000 square feet of office space, which will be occupied by Apple, it is also home to a 24,000-square-foot Arcade Food Hall. This offers a mixture of new and existing food concepts along with three standalone restaurants and a cocktail bar.

Positive impacts

The development will have a number of long-term positive impacts on the city.

Cotton says:

“Offering a strong mix of shops, bars, restaurants, leisure and entertainment venues all in one place, plus a year-round calendar of events, Battersea Power Station has something for everyone to enjoy.”

Opening Day, Turbine Hall B, Battersea Power Station
© John Sturrock

“The opening of the Power Station and Electric Boulevard has created a new town centre for Wandsworth and the local community. It has also created 2,500 new jobs. The wider masterplan will create 20,000 new jobs by the time it is complete, injecting millions into the UK economy. With the new Zone 1 Battersea Power Station Underground station on the Northern Line, the development has also improved connectivity to the area bringing it within 15 minutes from the West End and the City.”

Overcoming challenges

The team had to meet and overcome significant challenges throughout the development process:

“The sheer scale of the restoration work undertaken to bring the Power Station back to its former glory has to be the biggest challenge. Particularly as the building is Grade II listed. To give you an idea of the level of restoration carried out, each of the four iconic chimneys was rebuilt using the exact same methods as when they were originally built in the 1930s and 1950s. There are 25,000 wheelbarrows of hand-poured concrete in each chimney.”

Battersea Power Station - South Atrium
South Atrium © Backdrop Productions

“We also had to source approximately 1.8 million bricks during the restoration. We managed to order these from the original brickmakers, Northcot Bricks and Blockleys based in Gloucestershire and Shropshire. 

“As for most businesses, the pandemic was an extremely challenging time. When the first lockdown began, we had approximately 3,000 operatives working on the Power Station. We had to close the site and introduce new measures to make sure it was Covid-safe.

“Thanks to a huge collective effort, we were able to restart work just six weeks later. So, we were able to make up for the lost time. Interestingly, a lot of locals ‘discovered’ Circus West Village, our first phase of the project, on their lockdown walks. Many then returned to our shops, bars and restaurants once the economy started to reopen.”

The visitor experience at Battersea Power Station

In terms of what awaits visitors, he says:

“Our aim has always been to create a retail and leisure destination with something for everyone.

“In addition to retail, restaurants and bars, there are several family-friendly attractions to enjoy. This includes Lift 109, our unique glass chimney lift experience. Lift 109 transports visitors 109 metres up to the top of the Power Station’s northwest chimney. Here they can enjoy stunning 360° views of the London skyline.”

“We also host an annual events programme. Highlights include Summer Showtime, an outdoor cinema experience. There is also the Light Festival at Battersea Power Station, which returned for its third year in January 2023.”

At Christmas, Battersea Power Station became a festive destination with an array of activities on offer. This included Glide at Battersea Power Station, London’s only riverside ice rink, a Christmas trail to discover the eye-catching decorations around the new neighbourhood, and a Christmas street food market on The Coaling Jetty. There were also performances from the Battersea Power Station Community Choir.

Lift 109

Battersea Power Station’s Lift 109 is a one-of-a-kind experience, taking visitors to the top of the building’s northwest chimney for unrivalled 360° views of London’s skyline and of the historic landmark itself.

Lift 109 at Battersea Power Station
View from Lift 109 © Joshua Atkins

“Before venturing into the chimney lift, visitors experience a state-of-the-art immersive exhibition. This celebrates the Grade II listed building’s rich history, architectural significance and enduring presence in popular culture. It was extremely important to find the right partners to bring the historic and unique project to life. We wanted to ensure the customer experience is unparalleled to anything currently available.

“We are delighted to be working with IMG, who are the operators for Lift 109, and to have worked with Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA) on the exhibition design and delivery, with media design input and production from Squint/Opera. The lift itself has been designed by architecture firm WilkinsonEyre and built by engineering firm OTIS.”

A new kind of observation experience for Battersea Power Station

Ben Townsend, Squint/Opera’s creative director for the immersive Lift 109 project, offered his insights:

Squint:Opera logo

Observatory experiences are becoming increasingly competitive and complex in their offer. The expectation of the visitor is to be entertained throughout, with media experiences being a significant part of the offer. To understand what is unique to London’s observatory offers, Squint/Opera used data to create insight. Strategy underpins Squint/Opera’s media design thinking. For Battersea, which has a history in spades, its work leverages heritage as the answer to creating seamless entertainment.

The experience on either side of the central event, the view from the top, is peppered with media that forms the ‘shoulder experience’. The shoulder experience, he explains, is strategically critical for the business model for a few simple reasons:

“It dissolves the visitor’s perception of being in a queue for the view. It also extends the offer (and thus the ticket price). Lastly, a strong shoulder experience will make you less dependent on the weather and visibility for a great experience.”

Virtual design techniques

Technology is core to Squint/Opera’s process. During the design and production process, they used three ‘virtual twins’:

“At the design stage, we used an Unreal Engine model by Sysco. This allowed the design team to visualise the media concepts in a real-time virtual environment. It’s the first time in a project where sound, light, material and motion ideas come together so the team can really align on what is working ahead of going into production.”

Lift 109 at Battersea Power Station
© Joshua Atkins

“During production, Squint switched to virtual reality for prototyping immersive spaces. The pace of the media changes at an architectural scale. Virtual reality enabled Squint to iterate and share ideas at scale ahead of getting access to the site.

“Installation is the first time that digital and physical are brought together, speed is critical and access to the site is limited. Lidar scans gave Squint’s team a holistic point of reference to review site progress and solve issues together. This saved the frequency of site visits. It also brought the wider team in the London and New York studios up to speed.”

In conclusion, he adds:

“Throughout this project, Squint/Opera has become intimately involved with the next piece in the Battersea Power Station story. This is an enormous development, home to 5,000 Apple employees and neighbours to the Embassy of the United States. But more than that, this is a development which breathes life back into the cathedral of electrons, a British icon, Battersea Power Station.”

Lift 109 Battersea Power Station
© Joshua Atkins

Exhibition design

Meanwhile, RAA provided comprehensive exhibition design and monitoring services for Lift 109. This included spatial and exhibition design, content development and coordination, research and scriptwriting, graphic design and artworking, media art direction and oversight of exhibition fabrication and on-site installation. RAA also designed the Lift 109 retail area, including the back-of-house facilities. 

RAA logo

Lift 109 is driven by a narrative that celebrates Battersea Power Station as the source of cultural and industrial energy. For this project, RAA conceived a compelling narrative structure. This frames the historic power station story through the wider lens of ‘the power of Battersea’: the Power Station’s distinctive role as a source of both industrial and cultural energy.

This larger, emotional cinematic story unfolds on the outer edges of the Turbine Hall A balcony through large-scale media elements and on the upward journey through the lifts and chimney. Meanwhile, dramatic interactive and generative elements on the balcony’s ‘Generator’ space capture the up-close history.

Creating an engaging story for Battersea Power Station’s Lift 109

“Our design of the experience needed to appeal to a broad-spectrum audience,” says a statement from RAA. “It needed to stand out in a crowded tourist market, while also working respectfully within the architecture of the building.”

“These conditions led us to create a unique, media-heavy experience. It makes use of interactive media games and navigable stories, linear media presentations both small and large-scale, an immersive and generative media space and three instances of AR.”

Lift 109 at Battersea Power Station Exhibition Space
© Backdrop Productions

“This varied media experience can capture the tastes of different visitor groups and create a completely unique ‘wow’ experience where every piece is engaging and integrated with the experiential crescendo, the ride up the chimney. With our wider team of consultants, we supplemented these stand-out media pieces with emotional, evocative light and soundscapes. These are coordinated to work together and enhance visitors’ ascent and descent journeys, allowing the chimney and spectacular view of London to take centre stage.”

Phillip Tefft, director of RAA’s London studio, adds: 

“We’re honoured to have designed this one-of-a-kind exhibition for the Lift 109 experience at a timeless London icon. Celebrating the Power Station’s innovative design and its role as an industrial and cultural powerhouse fuelled our 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.”

Control Room B

When it comes to the Control Room B immersive experience, where experiential hospitality company Inception Group has launched a bar, Cotton says:

“Control Room B dates back to the period after the Second World War. It is pared back and brutalist in design. With faience tiling throughout, the control room retains its original human-scale stainless-steel control panels arranged in an arc. The original control room fittings, desks and switchgear complex are defining features of the space. These have been fully restored as part of the wider regeneration of Battersea Power Station.”

Control Room B Battersea Power Station
Control Room B © Johnny Stephens

“Inception has taken the space and created an immersive bar experience. It is totally unique to Battersea Power Station, inspired by the building’s iconic history. The space features mid-century furniture and glassware. A beautiful centrepiece bar, which is a turbine-inspired radial sculpture, pays homage to the character and form of Battersea Power Station’s electric history.”

Inception Group are London’s most experiential bar company, the brains behind Mr Fogg’s and Cahoots:

“They are the perfect partner to ensure those who visit Control Room B feel the history they are stepping into.”

Control Room A

Elsewhere, Battersea Power Station’s beautifully restored Control Room A serves as a unique events space.

Global full-service event space provider and platform Spaces & Stories has added Control Room A to its portfolio of extraordinary event venues. The 650-square-metre space can host 250 guests for receptions, and up to 100 seated. 

The room offers a one-of-a-kind experience in one of the original control rooms. It was built in the 1930s and is Art Deco in design. Features include restored switchboards and control desks, original teak parquet floors, marble finishes and a gold-coffered glass ceiling, as well as a dedicated entrance, a lobby with an Art Deco lift, two breakout rooms and a reception room. 

Control Room A Battersea Power Station
Control Room A © Henry Woide

It is ideal for a range of events, from art and immersive exhibitions to parties, fashion shows, product launches, brand events, dinners and receptions. 

“Control Room A is an extremely special and one-of-a-kind space,” says Cotton. “With their experience hosting events in unique venues, we’re delighted to be working with Spaces & Stories to offer London’s newest and most exciting event space, which is steeped in history and will allow guests to get up close to the Control Room’s original dials and controls.” 

Retailtainment at Battersea Power Station

Traditional retail is having to adapt and add more entertainment options. Cotton comments:

“Battersea Power Station offers a strong mix of shops, bars, restaurants, leisure and entertainment venues all in one place, and a year-round calendar of events. It has something for everyone. Nowhere else in the world can people eat, drink, shop, play and work inside a former coal-fired Power Station that is famous across the globe.

“What we have created at Battersea Power Station is truly unique. It is full of history and culture. It has a great brand mix and also has a sense of community. This is what sets this new riverside neighbourhood apart from any other retail and leisure opening London has seen.”

Malaysia-Square
Malaysia Square © Brendan Bell

In short, he adds:

“Working on a project like Battersea Power Station is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To be a part of opening this iconic London landmark for members of the public to enjoy is a monumental moment for everyone.

“For me personally, a highlight was watching the first visitors walk into the Power Station on 14 October and seeing their reactions as they were able to explore the building for the first time ever. After working closely with our brand partners over the past few years, it was also fantastic to see the first customers walking out of the new stores with their first purchases. We look forward to welcoming the public to Battersea Power Station for generations to come!”

Top image © Charlie Round Turner

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Lalla Merlin

Lalla Merlin

Lead features writer Lalla studied English at St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, and Law with the Open University. A writer, film-maker, and aspiring lawyer, she lives in rural Devon with an assortment of badly behaved animals, including a friendly wolf

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