CASE STUDY | BATTERSEA POWER STATION The unmistakable structure of Battersea Power Station is finally back in use and open to the public Left: The atrium lets daylight seep onto the floorplates POWER IS RESTORED Batterseas iconic power station has reopened as a mixeduse development incorporating an innovative services strategy that removed the need for heating and cooling in the gargantuan retail mall. Andy Pearson takes us on a tour B PROJECT TEAM Client: Battersea Power Station Development Company Architect: WilkinsonEyre MEP consultant: ChapmanBDSP Structural engineer: Buro Happold Lighting designer: Speirs Major Cost consultant: Gardiner & Theobald Project manager: Turner and Townsend Construction manager: MACE attersea Power Station has finally opened its doors to the public for the first time in history. In the four decades that have elapsed since the power station ceased generating power numerous attempts at developing the site have failed. The iconic landmark is Grade II* listed, which means the building had to be preserved in its redevelopment. The biggest challenges in terms of MEP were in maximising the net lettable areas and ensuring compliance with the buildings Grade II* listing requirements, says Simon James, associate director at ChapmanBDSP. The building services design also had to take account of the fact that the power station was built in two halves, decades apart. Designed by architect, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who also designed the red telephone box, Battersea A was completed and opened in 1933, with one turbine hall and two slender chimneys. It was not until 1955, when the eastern half of the building, Battersea B, was completed that the building acquired its familiar four-chimney profile. The chimneys were needed to disperse the flue gases from the power stations pulverised coal-fuelled boilers, which generated the steam that spun its giant turbines to supply a fifth of Londons electricity. Post-industrial plans Over the years, Battersea Power Station became an instantly recognisable feature of the London skyline, and starred on the cover of Pink Floyds 1977 album Animals, for which it was photographed with the bands inflatable pig flying between its chimneys. With operating costs increasing, however, and output falling with age, Battersea A closed in 1975, and Battersea B was decommissioned in 1983. The challenge then was what to do with this giant, brick-built landmark in post-industrial Britain. A series of failed proposals for the 42-acre site followed the decommissioning of the power station. These included: Alton Towers- 60 November 2022 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Nov 22 pp60-62, 64 Battersea.indd 60 21/10/2022 19:11