London's power stations: where are they now?

The Big Three

Battersea, Tate Modern and Chelsea Powerhouse could be described as 'the big three' power station redevelopments due to the sheer size of the buildings and the budgets used to renovate them. Chelsea is less than five miles from the Tate, with Battersea in the middle. All three maintained their iconic towers, and although different in style, they are equally eye catching on the banks of the Thames.

Battersea Power Station

Battersea has seen its share of controversy; it fell into disrepair following its decommissioning in 1983 and several projects to redevelop the 42 acre site failed before it finally reopened in 2022.

The current iteration of the power station is what Sarah Banham, the Head of Communities and Sustainability at Battersea Power Station Development Company described as a ‘mixed use town centre’.

She explained: “It wasn't just luxury affordable homes, but it was very much geared around creating the sixth town centre for the borough.

“It's 50% residential, 50% other uses, the other uses include leisure and cultural but also retail. Lots of cafes, restaurants, there's kids, soft play and all that as well."

There are now 6000 people working in the power station, 5000 more than when it was at its height functioning as a power generator.

Banham said the redevelopment aimed to provide free public toilets, as this was heavily requested by community groups.

There has been criticism of the new exclusivity of the former industrial area with luxury shops and apartments.

She said: “For me, it's really quite simple in that it's a grade two star listed building, I actually took the phone call from English Heritage at the time when it was upgraded to two star, so I absolutely understood the sort of passion behind preserving this building, and as a member of the local community as well.

“The trouble was it was really unsafe. The chimneys had dangerous structures, notices on it, on them, you couldn't get within 30 meters of a chimney, because there was an exclusion zone, if they fell down there, well you wouldn't survive.

“And it was a very, very beautiful building, but four developers had gone previously, they'd all gone bust trying.

“It's a big building, its' footprint is six acres. You could drop St Paul's Cathedral into just the boiler house in the middle so it was going to take very deep pockets.”

The development company went to great lengths they went to in maintaining the building, there were 1.8m bricks that had to be replaced in the renovation. They found the original maker from the 1930s and had his Gloucestershire family business hand cast them all.

Banham also told a story of the breeding pair of peregrine falcons who lived on the roof of the power station that had to be lured onto a tower to nest during the redevelopment. Over eight years, during the building work, they had 22 chicks.

Now the falcons live on the roof again, in what has been described as the power station’s most expensive piece of real estate per square metre, on a riverfront facing terrace.

Long before entering the pricey, peregrine property market, the power station was providing up to one fifth of London’s power. Employees from the years it functioned as a power plant are referred to by Sarah as the alumni.

An electrician pretended to check the light bulbs in a tunnel every Friday afternoon. The Battersea tunnels, which still exist, run under the Thames and carry either water or electrical cables. The bulbs would be fine and the electrician would emerge from the tunnel on the north bank for a pint in the pub.

Banham mentioned Rita who worked in the typing pool in Battersea in the 1950s. She is now in her 90s and used to try and get up onto the roofs and the chimneys while at work.

Now you can ride up a lift in the chimney for £17.

You can find out more about Battersea Power Station on their website.

Tate Modern

The Tate Modern has describeds itself as 'the world’s most popular museum of modern and contemporary art'. It is housed in what was once the Bankside Power Station.

The building occupied by the gallery was the second power station built on the site. The old power station (station A) started construction in 1893 and was decommissioned and demolished in 1959. Power station B, which now houses the Tate gallery was built in two phases between 1947 and 1963.

When the Tate bought the building in 1994, they ran an international competition for architects to redesign it. The construction began in 1997.

The gallery's conversion cost £134m and it opened on 12 May 2000.

Director of Tate Modern, Karin Hindsbo, said: “Tate Modern has made an incredible impact in just 25 years. It has exploded the canon of art history, transformed the public’s relationship with contemporary art, and rewritten the rules for what an art museum can be.

"Our birthday weekend will be a wonderful chance to see what we do best and get a taste of where we’re going next – and all for free!”

They will be holding two new free exhibitions to celebrate.

Tate Modern’s Director of Programme, Catherine Wood, said: “We wanted to celebrate our 25th anniversary with a capsule collection of 25 key works, which will lead visitors around the whole building on a journey from old favourites to new discoveries.

"The selection showcases how art – and Tate Modern itself – has always pushed the boundaries and challenged norms, ultimately letting us all see the world through new eyes.”

You can find out more about Tate Modern and their 25th anniversary celebrations on their website.

Powerhouse at the Chelsea Waterfront

The former Lots Road Power Station, once a generator for the tube, built in 1905 and in commission until 2002 announced the completion of its redevelopment last week.

The Power Station's arched windows made the station's original construction so expensive that this design was not repeated in other power stations large such as Battersea. This architectural feature is one of the reasons the power station building could hold flats.

The Battersea project has faced controversy over the affordability of their housing development although none of it is inside the old power station. Prices start at £1.695m in the luxuriously converted Chelsea Waterfront Powerhouse, according to real estate company Savills.

Located in a borough that has been described as the most unequal in Britain, there are 61 affordable homes inside the power station and two blocks of social housing on the wider site. Some of the homes are allocated to be owned and managed by Kensington and Chelsea council.

The building has maintained features of its industrial past. The red brick chimneys will be open to the public walk under and to looking up to the sky through.

The turbine hall turned 'central atrium' will also be open with shops and restaurants to arrive into the space in the summer.

The development has reopened the section of the Thames Path that crosses in front of it.

You can find out more about Chelsea Waterfront Powerhouse on their website.