Grade II listed London landmark Battersea Power Station will undergo an £8 billion revamp starting in 2013, according to the new owners, who are a consortium of Malaysian investors including SP Setia, Sime Darby and the Employees Provident Fund.
The sale of the landmark structure was completed earlier this week for £400 million, and the redevelopment will include hotels, a shopping centre, 3,400 residences, offices and art space. The first phase of construction will probably take four years, and the iconic white towers of the power station will be removed and rebuilt with new material at a later time.
The power station, which is nestled on the south bank of the river Thames, was built in the 1930’s and an addition was built in the 1950’s. Featured in the Hitchcock film “Sabotage” and on the cover of “Animals”, a Pink Floyd album, the building became well-known the world over.
Since 1983, the power station stopped generating electricity and became vacant. Although many proposals were offered for the use of the space, none were taken seriously. Most recently, the Chelsea Football Club proposed to turn the edifice into a stadium, but was unsuccessful.
Other proposals included the construction of a 300 meter (984 ft) tower and eco-dome; one architect suggested turning the area into a park by simply removing the walls of the power station.
