LONDON — London’s monolithic brick Battersea Power Station, once a coal-fired power plant, weaves into the fabric of the Nine Elm’s growing metropolitan skyline. Garnering celebrity status with its likeness used in Pink Floyd’s 1977 ‘Animals’ album cover and its more recent debut in ‘The Dark Knight,’ Europe’s largest brick building is undergoing a multi-phase overhaul and will soon house tech giant Apple.
Business Insider writes, the station’s redevelopment is part of an estimated $16.5 billion mega-development of the Nine Elms neighborhood. Just one component of the ongoing development, the vast structure’s $1.26 billion restoration will include 2 million sq. ft. of new space designed by British architecture firm WilkinsonEyre. Expected completion: 2021.
The former power station will serve as the center of the larger redevelopment project (dubbed the Battersea Power Station development), which features apartments, hotels, roof gardens, parks, and other offices and will happen in nine phases.
Apple will occupy 40-percent of the office space in the development, becoming the power station’s biggest tenant and the area’s largest employer.
From WilkinsonEyre:
Apple will be the largest office tenant occupying approximately 500,000 sq ft. across 6 floors of the central Boiler House inside the historic icon. Apple has said it is looking forward to opening its new London campus at Battersea Power Station in 2021. 1,400 Apple employees from existing offices around London will relocate to this magnificent new development at one of London’s best known landmarks. Apple has added, that this is a great opportunity to have its entire team working and collaborating in one location while supporting the renovation of a neighbourhood rich with history.
The structure was initially designed in the 1920’s by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott noted architect and industrial designer known for his blending of Gothic tradition and modernism in such structures as the red telephone box , the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral and Bankside Power Station which has since become Tate Modern. Out of commission since 1983, the power station’s development deal ended decades of speculation regarding the future of the site, Dezeen writes.
“It is testament to our fantastic building and the wider regeneration of the 42-acre site,” he added. “It has always been our clear objective to create one of London’s most thriving new communities and this commitment from Apple will undoubtedly help us achieve our goal.” — Rob Tincknell, chief executive of the Battersea Power Station Development Company.
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