Battersea Power Station

The paper discusses the proposed demolition and rebuilding of Battersea Power Station’s chimneys in 2005. The history of the building and its significance are first briefly recounted. Proposals for the reuse of the building and after it closed down in 1983 are also discussed. The paper then considers a survey of the chimneys carried out in 2003 by engineers working for the building’s then owners Parkview. The survey found that the chimneys were in poor condition and that it was necessary to demolish and rebuild them. The paper then considers an alternative report, commissioned jointly by three conservation organisations, which made a proposal for repairing the chimneys using conventional techniques. The paper concludes with a discussion of Parkview’s application to demolish and rebuild the four chimneys.

Figure 1 Northeast and northwest chimneys seen from base of southwest chimney. Former boiler house in centre. West boiler house wall to right removed 1889. East boiler house wall supported by temporary steelwork. (Stuart Tappin)

Keith Garner

Keith Garner is an architect based in Battersea London. He studied architecture and Kingston Polytechnic and subsequently attended the MA course in Building Conservation at the University of York . Keith has worked as a consultant to Historic Royal Palaces, the National Trust, and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Keith has been involved in the campaign to preserve Battersea Power Station since 1993 and was a co-founder of the Battersea Power Station Company Ltd in 2002.

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Donhead Publishing 2012