Tendering for phase 3 of the massive Battersea Power Station development in south London is expected to start later this year with construction due to start on site in 2015, the project’s developer the Battersea Power Station Development Company has revealed.
The successful bidder will join contractor Carillion, currently on site with the £400m first phase of the scheme, and construction manager Mace, now co-ordinating £100m of enabling works to restore and convert the listed power station, a £700m project in total.
This is not a paywall. Registration allows us to enhance your experience across Construction Management and ensure we deliver you quality editorial content.
Registering also means you can manage your own CPDs, comments, newsletter sign-ups and privacy settings.
The timetable was announced as designs for the two schemes that make up phase 3, by world-renowned architects Frank Gehry and Sir Norman Foster, were unveiled this week. The architects were chosen following an international design competition.
The two schemes (shown in the top segment of the CGI above) comprise a total of more than 1,300 homes of which only 103 are “affordable” properties, a 160-room hotel, 350,000 sq ft of retail and restaurant space, plus additional leisure space.
Gehry Partners has designed Prospect Place, five tall curved towers and a community park to the east of a new high street, named The Electric Boulevard. The scheme will house double-height retail units at street level, residential units, and a multi-use community hub. Its focal point is the distinctive “Flower” building.
Foster + Partners has designed the undulating “Skyline” building to the west of The Electric Boulevard. It will house two floors of retail units, around 650 homes including the 103 units of affordable housing in its southern end, a medical centre and a 160-room hotel at the northern end. In addition, the entire roof of the building is given over to one of London’s largest roof gardens, over a quarter of a kilometre long.
The Electric Boulevard will form the main gateway to the entire Battersea development and connect the Northern Line extension station with the power station itself.
A public pre-planning consultation on the two new designs will run from April 10 to 13 ahead of detailed planning applications to the London Borough of Wandsworth in the summer.
Battersea boys: Rob Tincknell, Frank Gehry and Grant Brooker. Gehry designed the Beekman Tower in New York (below)
Battersea will be the first time Gehry has designed a residential project in the UK, after the developer of his high-rise twin towers in Brighton failed to find financing in 2008. But the Battersea commission follows the success of the Beekman Tower, a 76 storey residential skyscraper in New York, which has attracted largely positive reviews since completion in 2011.
Rob Tincknell, CEO of Battersea Power Station Development Company, commented: “We have set out to make Battersea a showcase for the world’s very best architects and the designs we are unveiling today demonstrate that commitment in action. Phase 3 is an important part of our plans for the Power Station site, creating a new thoroughfare which will be at the heart of the new vibrant community.”
Frank Gehry, founder of Gehry Partners, said: “Our goal from the start has been to create a neighbourhood that connects into the historic fabric of the city of London, but one that has its own identity and integrity. We have tried to create humanistic environments that feel good to live in and visit.”
Grant Brooker, design director and senior partner at Foster + Partners, said: “We moved our own office to Wandsworth almost 25 years ago – the borough is very important to us, so we were absolutely delighted to be chosen by the shareholders of Battersea Power Station to be part of this inspiring regeneration project.”
Phase 1 at Battersea involves construction of a mix of 866 apartments with a blend of offices, shops, community and cultural spaces designed by Ian Simpson Architects and de Rijke Marsh Morgan. Carillion won the construction contract last May with Turner & Townsend also appointed as project manager.
Mace’s role, won last September, involves the external repair of the iconic power station itself and enabling works for the second stage of phase 2, which is the main £600m mixed-use interior of the power station.
Under the programme of work, all four of Battersea Power Station’s chimneys will be rebuilt in concrete, in accordance with the original architectural plans.
Alongside Mace, Buro Happold is the structural engineer, Purcell is the conservation and architectural adviser, Turner & Townsend is project manager, and Gardiner & Theobald is cost consultant.
