Los Angeles-based firm Gehry Partners and British architects Foster & Partners have been chosen to design the third phase of the Battersea Power Station mixed-use development. The ambitious and highly anticipated $12.9 billion revitalization plan will transform the city’s industrial landmark into a vibrant new district in South London. The site will also mark Frank Gehry’s first architectural project in Britain.
Located on the south bank of the river Thames, the distinctive power station has long been recognized as a major London icon and has been featured in many cultural appearances from Pink Floyd cover art to a shot in The Beatles’ movie Help! Since its shutdown thirty years ago, the decommissioned coal-fired power station has cycled through a number of failed proposals, including former plans to turn it into a theme park and a new home for the Chelsea football club. Following investment by a Malaysian consortium last year, however, Battersea Power Station has finally begun construction on a Rafael Viñoly-designed master plan, a sustainable development that will add 3,400 new homes to the area.
The two high-profile architecture firms chosen to develop the project’s eight-acre third phase will focus their designs on two mostly residential zones located on either side of ‘High Street.’ Foster + Partners will be responsible for the zone to the west and Gehry Partners will design the east area. Together, the zones will add 1,200 residential units, a 200-room hotel overlooking the town square and power station, 350,000 square-feet of retail and restaurant space, a 15,000 square-foot library and leisure space.
“Our goal is to help create a neighborhood and a place for people to live that respects the iconic Battersea Power Station while connecting it into the broader fabric of the city,” said Gehry. “We hope to create a design that is uniquely London, that respects and celebrates the historical vernacular of the city.”
+ Gehry Partners
+ Foster+Partners
Via Dezeen
Images via Rafael Viñoly