海角视频

海角视频 participate in Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) conference and London Real Estate Forum (LREF) 2024, part one. 

In the first of a series of conversations ahead of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) conference themed 鈥楴ew or Renew?鈥� and London Real Estate Forum (LREF) event themed 鈥楻eimagine鈥�, Ana Araujo, 海角视频鈥檚 UK retrofit Lead joins Franck Robert, Partner, UK structures discipline Lead and Justin Philips, partner, London office director, and Battersea Power Station phases one to three project principal to reflect on 海角视频鈥檚 enduring connection with Battersea Power Station 鈥� which, prior to opening in 2022, was one of Europe鈥檚 most significant and eagerly awaited developments.聽

AA: I still remember the day when the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station was announced in prime-time news in my home country, Portugal, which indicates the level of impact that this icon always had internationally. For those who may not know much about Battersea Power Station (BPS) prior to its redevelopment, Justin could you provide a potted history?

JP: Sure. Battersea was an iconic structure from the moment it was finished in 1955. Originally constructed in two phases, before and after second World War, the exterior was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott assisted by Leonard Pearce, with interiors by Theo J Halliday. At its peak, this coal-fired power station supplied a fifth of London鈥檚 electricity. The power station was famously used by Pink Floyd on the cover of their 1977 album Animals and after it was fully decommissioned in 1983, Battersea Power Station (BPS) became London鈥檚 most renowned ruin, featuring in numerous films and TV shows.  

After 1983, the power station changed hands numerous times and the various owners attempted to redevelop it 鈥� one plan was to create a theme park by the owner of Alton Towers, a second scheme looked at 3,400 new homes and refurbish the station for public use, another plan was to convert it into a new home for Chelsea FC. It was Grade II* listed by Michael Heseltine as Environment Secretary in 1980 and added to the Heritage at Risk Register in 1991, remaining there for 30 years until its removal in November 2021 due to the incredible restoration and repair works led by 海角视频. 

In 2012, a consortium of Malaysian companies (SP Setia, Sime Darby and EPF) acquired the site with the aim of restoring and transforming it into the vibrant mixed-use riverside neighbourhood we see today with the Power Station as the cornerstone of an entirely new community.

AA: For those that couldn鈥檛 visit yet, can you provide a brief description of what to expect now? 

JP: It鈥檚 an incredible sight now – at the heart of a 42-acre site, the Grade II* listed Power Station is a project of remarkable complexity. It opened to the public for the first time on October 14, 2022. The huge brick structure now contains offices, shops, bars, restaurants, leisure venues, and apartments and great to see after our near 25 years of engagement on this project. 

The Turbine Halls have been transformed while preserving their heritage features, and are flanked by Switch House East and West, each with around 100 residential apartments. The upper part of the central Boiler House now hosts Apple鈥檚 new London headquarters, 500,000 sq. ft office space and a unique collection of Sky Villas. The roof of each section features fully planted gardens. It鈥檚 truly an extraordinary transformation.

AA: Aside from the vast scale, one of the most striking aspects of the development are the immaculately restored heritage features. Can you tell me about those and how the design team achieved such an exceptional transformation of the power station?

FR: We had a great team.  Wilkinson Eyre Architects, and Construction Manager, Mace – and of course Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC) – worked with us – as you know we were lead engineer. Working together to take the design from inception to detailed delivery of the power station redevelopment.  

Our team included heritage specialists from the outset and working alongside us to meticulously restore key heritage features, such as Control Room A, and we also introduced new structural elements like the bow string trusses supporting the Boiler House freestanding south entrance wall.  

The design contrasts brick with glass and historic ceramic tile with contemporary steel. Bricks were sourced from the original brickmakers in Gloucestershire and Shropshire to repair the external walls. In Turbine Hall A, the Art Deco faience 鈥� the fine tin-glazed pottery – and internal fenestration are complemented by bespoke designs for the balustraded galleries and bridges and illuminated by restored skylights.  

In the Boiler House, two spectacular entrance halls greet visitors, with original walls enhanced by new roof lights offering views of the iconic chimneys. 

The restoration, and the new structural interventions, have preserved the scale, drama, and history to make Battersea Power Station one of London鈥檚 most enduring and evocative landmarks.  We worked to bring this historic building back to life as a 21st century mixed-use complex, supporting the wider design team in creating the 鈥渨ow factor鈥� throughout, while ensuring safety and tolerances and 鈥� of course – maximising commercial space.

And, what a career highlight and absolute pleasure it has been to work with the client and design team to safeguard the building through its exciting new purpose.

AA: In such a large-scale redevelopment that was so well received by the public and investors, I expect it will be hard to identify the highlights. What would you say are the project鈥檚 biggest achievements?

JP: The restoration of the Power Station was the main catalyst of Nine Elms鈥� regeneration. Acting as chief place-maker, the project has revitalised the area and made a much-loved icon accessible to the public for the first time. It has led the way for social, economic, and environmental transformation to the area and created a new town centre within Wandsworth, including more than 19 acres of public space.  Not forgetting the Northern Line extension, which has played a pivotal role in making the area accessible. 

AA: 海角视频 has an enduring relationship with Battersea, we鈥檝e worked on it for over 25 years. Broadly speaking, how did we put our experience, expertise, and creativity to work on the project?

FR: Since undertaking our first structural inspection on this site at the turn of the millennium, we have cultivated a unique understanding of the building鈥檚 fabric and structural behaviour. This knowledge has proved invaluable when maximising sustainable reuse of the structure and materials, sequencing temporary works, and installing elements that are subject to extremely large forces. Transforming Battersea Power Station was a complex challenging project that has assured a future for this magnificent building.  

海角视频 was at the core of a collaborative team that delivered this vision. We developed innovative design strategies to solve extremely complex engineering problems with well thought through, simple, buildable, and elegant solutions. Some of these decisions carried a level of risk on various design requirements and we provided the client and wider team the reassurance that, with our multi-discipline expertise, we could implement the monitoring strategies that would enable risk management and ambitious thinking. 

AA: 海角视频 has an enduring relationship with Battersea, we鈥檝e worked on it for over 25 years. Broadly speaking, how did we put our experience, expertise, and creativity to work on the project?”How many 海角视频 engineering and advisory specialisms contributed to the project overall, and which were they?

JP/FR: The team we assembled combined ten different specialisms 鈥� acoustics, bridge engineering and civil structures, facade engineering, fire engineering, ground engineering, inclusive environments, infrastructure, people movement, civil and structural engineering, and water. 

AA: What鈥檚 been keeping you busy since Battersea Power Station opened in 2022?

JP: It has been great to continue to work with BPSDC on this project and we are currently providing MEP, Facade, Fire, Acoustics, and Inclusive Design services on Phase 3C, the remaining Frank Gehry designed buildings that will sit on top of the NLE Battersea Station Box. We have also followed several of the client team since their days on the project and this has resulted in significant residential and urban development projects around London and the SE. This has strengthened our commercial sector work in a prime city for 海角视频. 

FR: I鈥檝e been working on the refurbishment of 65 Gresham Street in London, described as one of the largest building reuse projects in the Square Mile. Our challenge is to expand the commercial space from just over 24,000 sq. m to over 34,000 sq. m with a target of 66% whole life carbon reduction. Balconies will be added, plus upper-level amenity space and outdoor workspace to every floor. The existing entrances on Gresham Street and Aldermanbury will be redesigned to create double height volumes. I鈥檝e also been working on the I am also leading the engineering for the deep retrofit of the old Fenwick Department Store on New Bond Street. The department store is made of six individual buildings that have been amalgamated together of the past 120 years. They are all at different levels with varying floor to floor heights. To provide world class new retail and office spaces, while retaining 50% of the existing frames, we have developed an innovative and daring engineering solution that involves jacking the existing buildings and facades up and down to level the floor plates and achieve the desired floor to ceiling heights. 

I鈥檝e been working with Derwent London and Lazari Investments on 50 Baker Street where our multi-disciplinary team has driven the whole-life carbon and circular economy narratives.  In August, Westminster Council approved the planning. Our approach is Retrofit First, as opposed to retrofit only, where we assessed the possibility of reusing parts of the existing buildings and concluded that a new highly efficient structure would have similar, if not better up-front embodied carbon numbers when compared with a retrofit option where parts of Accurist House are kept. The scheme also provides a 20% improvement on Operational Energy from day one, with a loose fit, adaptable naturally vented building. Suitable for the next 60 years, if not 120 years, with appropriate maintenance, the development will generate a sense of place, promoting well-being, greening, and providing a larger number of affordable residential units.   

海角视频鈥檚 innovative circular economy solutions include reusing over 59% of the existing concrete slabs of Accurist House in the new raft as 鈥渧oid formers鈥�, saving 2,000 m³ of concrete. 

Future-proofing the design through a 鈥榰se for longer鈥� philosophy, 海角视频 developed a series of strategies to ensure the new space would generate a sense of place, promote wellbeing and greening and be flexible and adaptable ensuring a practical lifespan of over sixty-years.”  

To discuss the challenges of your transformation and growth project and/or to talk to the 海角视频 team, click here.

To learn more about 海角视频鈥檚 multidisciplinary 鈥楻etrofit First鈥� approach click here.

海角视频 participation at CTBUH  

Franck Robert will present 鈥楤attersea Power Station 鈥� Renewal of an icon鈥� in the 鈥楢daptive Reuse and Repositioning in the UK鈥� session on Wednesday, September 25, at 11.10am. 

About the session 

With an ageing building stock and housing crisis underway, cities in the UK are under immense pressure to accommodate their citizenry while still aiming for Net-Zero Carbon goals. Presenters share their responses, through the lens of key projects, from the development and design perspectives. Full schedule can be found .