London, History in the Making

Synoptic- Contextual Study

Giles Gilbert Scott was born in 1880 in Hampstead, London. He was the third son of

George Gilbert Scott Junior and grandson of Sir George Gilbert Scott, both architects. Giles

followed the family tradition and trained as an architect, becoming one of the most famous

architects in the country. He created a modern twist to his work, by applying contemporary

styles to industrial structures. His most famous designs are Battersea and Bankside power

stations in London, Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, and the red K2 telephone kiosk.

Scott was hired by the London Power Company in 1927, to create the first of a new

generation of power stations to produce power for the capital. With grand dimensions of

160m x 170m, the roof of the boiler house at 50m tall, and its four 103m tall, tapering

chimneys, it is a truly massive structure. It is one of the most eye-catching buildings in

Sir Giles Gilbert

Scott

K2 Telephone Box

Bankside Power station

Battersea, South West London, creating an unusual silhouette on the London skyline. The

initial construction provided a large portion of the Capital’s electricity, generating power

for 30 years.

Another phenomenal architect and product designer who is having an impact on the

London architectural scene is Ron Arad. Born in Tel Aviv, he moved to London in 1973 to

study architecture and made his name in the early 1980s as a self-taught designer-maker of

sculptural furniture. From 1994 to 1999 he established the Ron Arad Studio Design and

Production unit in Como, Italy. He currently works from his studio in Chalk Farm,

London. Alongside his limited edition, studio work, Arad designs for many leading

international companies, including Kartell, Vitra, Moroso,Alessi, Cappellini, Cassina,

WMF, Magis and many others. He combines playful forms with advanced technologies to

create original curved designs. His design excellence was acknowledged when awarded the

2011 London Design Week Medal.

Battersea Power station

Ron Arad Cappellini

Ron Arad has designed a number of public art pieces, most recently the Vortext in Seoul,

Korea, and the Kesher Sculpture at Tel Aviv University. He’s also taking part in re-

developing Battersea Power Station to the Upperworld Hotel. Ron Arad was employed to

come up with a hotel of unparalleled luxury that would span between the chimneys on the

roof. Eight billion pounds of investment is creating a thriving, diverse neighbourhood in

Battersea, a place where homes, workspaces, shops, restaurants, cafés and cultural venues

combine with 18 acres of new public space. Arad’s art deco style was incorporated in the

new vision of Battersea, using curves, shapes and primary colours, all shown in his

artworks. Arad’s scheme was dropped in 2005 and then brought up again by the architects,

Victor Hwang and Neven Sidor. Hwang then asked Arad to come up with a sculptural

piece to fill the central void; a spiralling ramp in bright red that would link the many

separate levels. The transformation of this historical site should be completed by 2019.

The Battersea Power Station design came about in response to concerns of air pollution,

which was a serious problem in the early 1900’s. Until the late 1930s, London’s electricity

was supplied by municipal undertakings. These were small power companies that built

power stations dedicated to a single industry or group of factories, and sold any excess

Upperworld Hotel

electricity to the public. There were worries about the pollution from power generation

damaging London’s buildings and the engineers turned to Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, one of the

foremost church and public building architects of the day, to find a solution. Scott came up

with a design of audacious grandeur – a vast cathedral of power, framed by four thrusting

castle towers, out of which would rise four concrete chimneys, like giant classical temple

columns, each 337ft tall which would lift the polluting smoke to a higher level.

The feeling of the government at the time was that the station would be the largest brick

building in the world and in time would be considered an architectural masterpiece. It was

not always as popular as it is today. The first phase began in March 1929 which involved

the construction of ‘Station A’. After six years of planning and building, the station’s

turbines came to life in 1933 and Battersea Power Station began to generate electricity for

London. During its first twenty five years of operation, the power station doubled in size

and in 1955, ‘Station B’, the fourth and final chimney was completed after surviving the

Blitz. Over the course of it’s life, Battersea Power Station has been instilled in the public

consciousness, not least when Pink Floyd famously adopted it for their Animals album

cover and launch in 1977. As a result of its popularity, a great deal of energy has been

expended in protecting this national landmark.

Sir Gilbert Scott lifted power stations from the prosaic into the sublime by incorporating

lavish touches such as the building’s majestic bronze doors and impressive wrought-iron

staircase leading to the art deco control room. Here, amongst the controls which are still in-

situ today, those in charge of London’s electricity supply could enjoy the marble-lined walls

and polished parquet flooring. Down in the turbine hall, the station’s giant walls of

polished marble would later prompt observers to liken the building to a Greek temple

devoted to energy. Alongside Battersea in 1947, Giles Gilbert Scott designed Bankside

power station that used oil to provide power to the South Bank. For this, Scott used the

same patterns, materials and structure used to construct Battersea Power Station.

Constructed of a brick shell, supported by an interior steel structure, its striking

monumental design with its single central chimney had often led it to be referred to as an

Battersea Power ‘Station A’

industrial cathedral. In 1994 the Tate Gallery announced that Bankside would be the new

home to the Tate modern.

Following the decommissioning of ‘station A’ in 1975, the whole structure was listed as a

Grade II building in 1980. The ‘B station’ was closed in 1983. The whole building was

upgraded to Grade II* status in 2007. Battersea Power Station has become almost as

famous for its future, as for its past. Now 70 years old, Battersea Power Station has lost

none of its power to astonish. Not just in its scale, but in the boldness of its design- it feels

strikingly contemporary. Numerous proposals were discussed with visions to redevelop the

site and architects such as John Outram, Nicholas Grimshaw, Ron Arad and Terry Farrell

have been consulted. In the end, the Ron Arad proposal of creating an ‘Upperworld’ Hotel,

is set to be the new vision of Battersea, a Luxury 44 room hotel occupying the top 3 levels.

The four chimneys will be painstakingly dismantled and rebuilt to ensure that they remain a

London landmark for generations to come. Each new chimney will be visually identical to

the original, the only difference being that the new chimneys will use a more modern pattern

of steel reinforcement within the concrete.

For my project, ‘London in the Making’, I decided to focus on Battersea Power Station as

it is an interesting building to look at, with a wonderful history behind it. I am interested

in it as it was a functional building which was made into a work of art. I have also been

inspired by work of Ron Arad and his influences that will be revealed Upperworld Hotel. I

have chosen to design an interior for the building- the entrance lobby, and will present a 3D

outcome.