Battersea Power Station, Nine Elms and Vauxhall - redevelopment plans and news

[lang rabbie]

Under previous plans, wasn't there meant to be some dedicated shuttle between Victoria, Battersea Pk and Clapham Junction? Suspect that can't happen now as there isn't enough platform space at Victoria for current services.

 

[Major Tom]

Just heard that the chimneys are going to be pulled down as part of the redevelopment.

They have corroded due to atmospheric salt and salty Thames water that was used to mix the concrete, apparently. And then facsimiles will be built - presumably using at least some of the original material.

 

[Donna Ferentes]

Hurrah!

If Glancey had looked beyond the hype and overblown architecture, he would find a deeply unattractive project that has no affordable housing anywhere on the 38-acre site, no decent jobs for local people and no credible public transport strategy, relying instead on 3,000 private car parking spaces and an Arup-designed pedestrian bridge.

 

[rusalki]

Immagination

I know it is a old topic, but... Battersea Power Station is one of my special places.

Not only for Pink Floyd and the flying pigs - I love the fact that it is a decaying place, and somehow (even if it is an irrational fantasy) I'd like it to stay as it is - not changed in anything else, solitary and without dull people crawling inside... Just a place for immagination. Last year I was living in Deeley Road (off Wandsworth Road) and every evening coming back I could see the chimneys emerging from the sky. Please don't think I'm silly, but I felt a sort of estrangement, soft despair and wonder inside. I was the only existing human being.

 

[Donna Ferentes]

A bit like this?

 

[rusalki]

A bit like this?

Yes! I'm new in the forum, so I do not really know what happened before...
Last year I used to walk down Grosvenor Road untill the Chelsea Bridge -

When I came back in September it was one of the first place to which I went saying Hello... Can you say hello to places, can't you?

 

[Donna Ferentes]

Well, in Catcher In The Rye Holden always wanted to give places a proper "goodbye"...

 

[rusalki]

I've never read Salinger... but I agree. Everytime I go back to Italy I say Hello to the mountains (Appennini).

Here in London - I guess the first and last place I greet is the British Library.

I like saying Hello! to the Lion and the Unicorn at the gate of Hyde Park...
(especially the unicorn)

 

[java1200]

.

 

[nino_savatte]

Sorry to ressurrect an auld thread but...

I was wondering what was meant to be happening as I often go past it and nothing seems to be going on.

John Broome: a man knighted for creating a pile of rubble.

 

[Gixxer1000]

let the power station fall down (parts of it are only held up with scaffolding now anyway) and you've got the whole 21 or so acres (IIRC) to play with, and you can honestly tell EH or whoever it is who deals with destruction of listed buildings "sorry guv, natural wear and tear/act of g-d, innit?"...

Quite a bit of steel temporary works retaining the interior hactually (was the largest facade retantion in Europe), but showing its age now.

The amount of time that has passed also enables an unscrupulous developer to "lose" all those surveys telling him about the scale of contamination of the site rendering parts of it unfit for housing...

I'd hate to hazard a guess at the tonnage of asbestos strip(ped)

 

[cybertect]

One thing I have wondered recently, noticing the absolutely phenomenal amount of so-called "luxury" flats built in the last seven or so years

I think just about every property developer in the non-HA sector slaps the 'luxury' tag on everything they build. It's been going on for the last 20 years to my knowledge.

When I was studying architecture in the late 1980s, my Building Economics lecturer had a notion that the word 'luxury' when applied to dwellings would become so abused that it would actually be an insult within half a century

 

[cybertect]

They should have used it to house the British Library instead of the red brick monstrosity in St Pancras.

Way too late.

While it was only formally opened in 1998, planning and design of the British Library started in the 1974 with a funding crisis under Thatcher in 1988 helping things out.

I must admit to rather liking it.

 

[ska invita]

Last chance to see Battersea Power Station before the redevelopment - pay a fiver for the chinese art show and check out the real work of art!

http://www.serpentinegallery.org/2006/08/china_power_station_part_i_8_o_1.html

Supposedly Due to popular demand, pre booking is essential to ensure entry - might be a blag though.

 

[lang rabbie]

Photography is not permitted

which I suspect has little to do with copyright/intellectual property in the Chinese art works and relates a lot more to the property owners' concern that every second visitor will be a tweed clad conservationist fogey (not unlike myself ) wanting photographic evidence of the scandalous decline of the building and the failure of Wandsworth Council to take enforcement action against Parkview and the subsequent developers.

 

[oryx]

Last chance to see Battersea Power Station before the redevelopment - pay a fiver for the chinese art show and check out the real work of art!

http://www.serpentinegallery.org/2006/08/china_power_station_part_i_8_o_1.html

Supposedly Due to popular demand, pre booking is essential to ensure entry - might be a blag though.

Definitely want to go to this! Thanks for the link. If I do go I'll report back.

 

[ska invita]

which I suspect has little to do with copyright/intellectual property in the Chinese art works and relates a lot more to the property owners' concern that every second visitor will be a tweed clad conservationist fogey (not unlike myself ) wanting photographic evidence of the scandalous decline of the building and the failure of Wandsworth Council to take enforcement action against Parkview and the subsequent developers.

Just got back today - you are allowed to take photos of the building, but not the art.

It was great going inside there - fantastic ghost of a building - really suited to the Chinese art work - if you've ever been to a communist country you'll get the link well.

I cant help but feel that the redevelopment of the Station is going to be a money-pit/white elephant. When you see what state it is in, and how hard its going to be to save what remains... no easy task.

Does anyoen know how it got be in the state it is in now? Its clearly been gutted - how come they stopped at the stage it is at now?

P>S> one oft he exhibits is thousands of apples rotting - worth going towards the end of the run (NOV) when teh apples will really be mush!

Oh, and it was no problem not having pre-booked, even on a sunny sunday, although everyoen had to queue for about half and hour.

 

[arronsmith]

I went to visit today - really cool to see it. Cost me a fiver, but a fiver well spent.

Shitty cameraphone pictures at www.arronsmith.co.uk/pickers/battersea , if anyone is /really/ that interested.

Sadly, they don't let you anywhere near the switchgear, some of which is still present according to one of the people working there.

Didn't think much of the art, but that wasn't why I went, and it doesn't get in the way of the power station at all (because you'd need a /lot/ of art to do that). The architecture is amazing. Some really ornate little balconys dotted around, which surprised me.

They even give you bikes to ride around on.

Well worth the fiver.

As an aside, those who enjoyed this would probably appreciate The Wapping Project (Hydraulic Power station (back in the day, high pressure water mains used to power industrial equipment/lifts etc in London, this was one of the pumping station)). It's now a trendy bar/art gallery, but they've left a lot of the big old machinery there.

 

[newbie]

Sadly, they don't let you anywhere near the switchgear, some of which is still present according to one of the people working there.

Rats, that's a real shame, we saw the control room when it was open years ago during the so-called consultation before they trashed it. Absolutely fantastic.

I'm hoping to get there tomorrow, what are the queues like?

 

[arronsmith]

I booked on 'tinternet. http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/user?que...nterface=chinapowerstation&REFID=chinatimeout

However, there were no queues for the people that hadn't as far as I could make out.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/uk_battersea_power_station/html/6.stm - the control room in better days. Bad ass.

 

[BadlyDrawnGirl]

I say bring back the pig.

 

[oryx]

Went to this on Sunday, as I think it may be the last chance to see inside the Power Station before it becomes a huge building site/accessible only to nobs with money/demolished (delete depending on degree of cynicism).

IMHO the art isn't really worth seeing unless you have a penchant for obscure video installations. It is worth the six quid to see inside the Power Station, though it is now well & truly gutted & derelict (or at least all the bits that were open were).

Niksativa, it got to be in this state because it was acquired in the mid-80s by a property developer who started work on it then went bust (AFAIK). It has been acquired for development again by another property company, earmarked for luxury flats, hotels, retail etc.

 

[Sunray]

I met this guy the other day that works for a charity called 20th Century Society. Set up to defend building built in the, surprisingly, in the 20th Century.

He was saying that the land had been acquired by a Chinese developer called Wang. Its a 1.5 billion development.

They had challenged his planning application because his structural engineers had said that the chimneys had to come down and they saw that that might be a sneeky way to get rid of them.

The base of the chimneys have concrete cancer. So they have got him to agree to take two down and repair the base and he cannot take any more down until he has put one back. Its going to cost 100 million quid to repair them. Work is due in January.

http://www.riskybuildings.org.uk/docs/13battersea/index.html

If they fuck that up, they will have spoilt London's most recognisable landmarks.

 

[DeadManWalking]

All set to go there this afternoon with my camera, not only has the sun gone in but it's only open Thurs to Sunday

 

[behemoth]

Sometimes buildings outlive their usefulness.

Pull it down and build some affordable low rise housing.

I think it is an ugly monstrosity.

 

[ELO]

The base of the chimneys have concrete cancer. So they have got him to agree to take two down and repair the base and he cannot take any more down until he has put one back. Its going to cost 100 million quid to repair them. Work is due in January.

.

That is an awful lot of money to spend. I love old buildings, and old houses, but 100 million for a chimney that isn't going to be used?

 

[corporate whore]

While I'm having a 'lookee at the new buildings' afternoon, here are the latest plans for what won't be built on the power station site.

/cynic

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/architecture/story/0,,2286760,00.html

 

[Belushi]

Oh FFS thats really shit.

 

[Dask]

I'm still waiting for the rollercoaster , and the single table restaurant at the top of one of the towers.

 

[corporate whore]

the single table restaurant at the top of one of the towers.

Me too - that was the Best Plan Yet