Visitors are now getting their first look around the new-look Battersea Power Station which, after decades of lying derelict, reopened on Friday as a shopping and leisure complex.
The iconic Grade II* listed building has been rebuilt in its signature style over ten years to become what proponents hope will be a hip location. It features cinemas, bars, restaurants, a theatre, and a glass lift to provide a 109m-high viewing experience across the Thames. It also has a shopping centre and an exhibition space. There is also a residential element with 800 homes of varying size attached.
A launch party will continue into Saturday and Sunday with entertainment in foyer areas while crowds joined a mass countdown to the official opening time of 10am.
Viewers can expect pop-up food trucks, a free interactive heritage trail, roaming live entertainment and an evening light show. There is also a five day Festival of Power in exhibition spaces to give an idea of the history of the site.
Photographer Chris Mead, 72, travelled from New York for the opening and was near the front of the queue which formed before the opening. He said: “I am originally from Kent and this historic building was part of my growing up. I’ve lived in the US for 40 years and I had to be here for this. It’s just such an interesting building, rich in history.”
Clive Thompson, 58, said: “I was brought up around here. I remember the smoke coming out of the chimneys. Iconic is over-used but in this case it’s true.”
The 42-acre space was commissioned in the 1920s and ran across two sites from the 1930s to 1980s, closing for good almost 40 years ago. Since then, it fell into disuse and near ruin with its protected status stopping it from being demolished. A planned theme park at the site fell through while plans by Chelsea Football Club to build a stadium there also came to nothing. But in 2012, a Malaysian consortium was able to get its £400million plans through the planning process.
Much of the site, including the iconic white chimneys, have been dismantled and painstakingly recreated with 1.75 million red bricks needed to recreate the original while enough steel has been used to build three replica Eiffel Towers.
There has even been a new Underground station completed.
Simon Murphy, head of the Battersea Power Station Development Company, told reporters: “[It is] one of the most challenging engineering and architectural feats in London's history.
“Throughout the restoration process, we have tried to reuse as much of the existing fabric within the power station as possible.”
Mayor Sadiq Khan added: “As a life-long south Londoner, I am particularly delighted to see the iconic Battersea Power Station opening its doors for the first time in 40 years.”
