Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms
Trace the evolution of Vauxhall and Battersea with skyscraper construction and US Embassy enroute to the iconic Art Deco Power Station and masterplan by Raphael Viñoly with developments by Frank Ghery and Fosters + Partners.
This formerly industrial hinterland between Vauxhall and Battersea Power Station was identified as an ‘Opportunity Area’ in the 2004 London Plan. Just one mile from the Houses of Parliament, it has become one of the most sought-after chunks of Central London real estate with international investors scrabbling to buy up chunks of land after the financial crash in 2008. These parcels of land are now part of the Vauxhall, Nine Elms and Battersea (VNEB) Opportunity Area - 227 hectares of prime real estate in Zone 1, with the potential to deliver 20,000 new homes, create 25,000 new jobs all connected by a 4.8-hectare linear park. Currently about 1/3rd complete there are now a critical mass of buildings to see.
The area around Vauxhall has an ever-growing cluster of ‘showy’ towers vying for attention and river views. The hinterland of former industrial land now houses the new fortified US Embassy, an eco-glass cube by Kieran Timberlake Architects, surrounded by an ever-growing collection of lower rise housing blocks, including Embassy Gardens with it’s much publicised ‘Sky Pool’ – a 25m transparent acrylic swimming pool free spanning 15m between two 10 storey luxury housing blocks.
The whole area has become viable thanks to new transport connectivity with the extension of the Norther Line and two new Nicholas Grimshaw tube stations.
We end our journey at the ‘Temple of Power’ - the long-awaited opening of the first few phases of Raphael Viñoly’s £9bn Battersea Power Station masterplan with developments by Starchitects Frank Ghery and Fosters + Partners. All set around the ‘iconic landmark brick hulk and four towering chimneys’ of Giles Gilbert Scott’s Art Deco Battersea Power station lovingly restored by Wilkinson Eyre with much more to come.
Landmark buildings featuring on the tour include:
Battersea Power Station (refurbishment) – Wilkinson Eyre 2022, Prospect Place – Frank Ghery 2021, Circus West Village – Simpson Haugh 2017, Faraday Hose - DRMM 2018, Vauxhall Bus Station - Arup Associates/2004, St George Wharf and Tower - Broadway Malayan 2014, One Nine Elms and Damac ‘Jenga’ Tower - KPF 2020, Thames City - SOM 2023, MI6 Headquarters SIS Building - Sir Terry Farrell 1993, The American Embassy – Kieran Timberlake 2017, Embassy Gardens Sky Pool - HAL Architects and ARUP associates, Riverlight Development - RSH+P 2013-17.
Length of Tour: 2.5 hours