| Battersea Power Station |
Article Index for Battersea |
Shopping Battersea |
Website Links For Battersea |
Information AboutBattersea Power Station |
|
Battersea Power Station, completed in 1939 , was the first in a series of very large (for the era) coal-fired electrical generating facilities set up in England as part of the National Grid Power Distribution system then being introduced. It is a grade II Listed Building , and is being converted to a large commercial and entertainment complex as the centrepiece of a project to rejuvenate the surrounding area. BACKGROUND During the 1920s electricity supply was being set up by small companies that built stations dedicated to a single industry or group of factories, and sold any excess power to the public. However, each company used its own equipment, which led to all sorts of small plots where standards differed. One could not generally purchase an electrical appliance and know that it would work outside the locality. Parliament finally decided that the power grid should be a single system under public ownership. This sparked a storm of protest from those who thought that the government should not be involved, and in the end it would be another 30 years before nationalization was completed. Meanwhile several private power companies reacted to the proposals by forming the London Power Company in 1925 . Their plan was to build a smaller number of very large stations and sell the power to anyone who wanted it. Their first power station was planned for the Battersea area on the south bank of the River Thames in London . ARCHITECTURE This sparked off protests from those who felt the building was too large and would be an eyesore, and from those who were worried about the pollution. Ignoring the latter, the company addressed the former by hiring Sir Giles Gilbert Scott , a noted architect and industrial designer (also famous for the design of the Red Telephone Box , of Liverpool Cathedral , and also another London power station, Bankside , which now houses the Tate Modern art gallery). The resulting design is a steel-framed building with brickwork hung from the outside, similar to the skyscrapers being built in the US at the time. Construction started in 1929 and was completed by 1939. The original power station had a single long hall with a chimney at either end. From 1953 to 1955 a second ''Station B'', identical from the outside, was constructed alongside the original, which then became known as ''Station A''. This gave the station its familiar four-chimney layout. Far from being an eyesore, the station has since become one of London's most famous landmarks and is generally loved. The power station was the site of a fire on April 20 , 1964 , which caused power failures throughout London including at the BBC Television Centre, which was slated to launch BBC Two that night. The launch was delayed until the following day at 11am. END OF OPERATION When it first opened, the station had a 105 MW steam turbine. At the time, this was the largest in Europe. After World War II this was enlarged to aproximately 500 MW. In the 1950s, 60 MW was considered to be 'large' for UK stations. Power stations' output continued to grow and this factor, coupled with increased operating costs (Battersea required flue gas cleaning) led to its demise. In 1975 Station A (by then quite out of date) was shut down, with rumours that Station B would soon follow. Intense public pressure mounted to save the buildings, notably Station A's Art Deco interior. In 1980 the station was declared a heritage site, and in 1983 production in Station B ended. At that point it was unclear what to do with the building, so a contest was held to look for the best ideas. The winning bid was to construct a Theme Park inside the grounds (which are huge) and work started on the plan in 1988 . The start consisted of cutting huge holes in the roof, through which the machinery was hoisted out to be sold. At that point the project folded: the building has remained in this state to this day. CULTURAL IMPACT Battersea Power Station has been pictured on many '', which is a complete cover of Pink Floyd's ''Animals'', in the booklet Art for The Who 's 1973 album '' Quadrophenia '', and on the cover London Elektricity 's ''Power Ballads'' album. It was used in 2001 as the background art for the cover of a Petula Clark boxed set, ''Meet Me in Battersea Park ''. It was a setting in Alfred Hitchcock 's 1936 film '' Sabotage ''. It appeared for a moment in the British '' Doctor Who '' television science fiction series in '' The Dalek Invasion Of Earth '' in 1964, which saw the station in the 22nd century, having been converted to nuclear power. It appeared briefly in The Beatles' 1965 film '' Help! '', and many years later the interior was seen in the "Find The Fish" segment of Monty Python's '' The Meaning Of Life ''. The station (rather unconvincingly) stood in for an Eastern European military camp in the '' MacGyver '' TV movie ''The Lost Treasure of Atlantis'', and it appeared briefly in the background of an episode of the ABC television series ''Lost'' entitled Fire + Water . In recent years the building has occasionally played host to concerts and to performances by the Cirque Du Soleil (in a nearby marquee). In Ian McKellen 's Film of Shakespeare 's Richard III , the derelict power station surreally stands in for Bosworth Field in Richard's final battle scene. During Pink Floyd 's 2005 Live 8 performance, during the song Money, Battersea was briefly shown when the camera panned out away from the stage. FUTURE Development company Parkview International has started work on a £750m redevelopment of the power station and its site. The plan includes two hotels, a theatre, cinema, flats, offices, showrooms and a dedicated rail link from Victoria Station . They also propose to build a one-table restaurant at the top of one of the chimneys. Before the Parkview scheme was granted planning permission Battersea Power Station Community Group campaigned for an alternative community-based scheme to be drawn up, and it continues to criticise Parkview's proposals and to cast doubt on the financial robustness of the project. The group describes the plans as "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". The group also says "... this is just the last in a long line of planning applications from Parkview going back over 10 years that have gone nowhere. We fear that Parkview is merely proposing unrealisable projects while the value of the land increases and the power station crumbles." Parkview counters that it believes the project will create up to 9,000 jobs, and that it is making efforts to recruit locally. At the launch of a recruitment project in July 2005 Secretary Of State For Work And Pensions David Blunkett said: "This development is good news for the people of East Battersea, indeed the whole of London, and I am very pleased to announce that Jobcentre Plus will be at the heart of the recruitment process, getting people back into work and changing lives." On 13 October 2005 , Wandsworth Council approved Parkview's plan to demolish and then rebuild the power station's chimneys, which the company claims are structurally unsound and irreparable. However, since Parkview is based in the British Virgin Islands , the company could refuse to rebuild the chimneys and the council would have no legal authority to force them to.The developers have been asked to deposit money in a bank so if they cannot finish rebuilding the chimneys, the council can use the funds to do so. REFERENCES
EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|