What Battersea Power Station could have been – from theme park to Chelsea stadium

Battersea Power Station opened to the public on Friday, October 14, 2022

(Picture: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

A theme park, an urban park and even Chelsea FC’s home stadium – Battersea Power Station nearly looked a lot different from the shopping and entertainment complex that it is today.

After functioning as a power station for decades, it was decommissioned in 1983. But, due to its Grade II listed status, it had to be preserved.

The Central Electricity Generating Board held a competition to decide what Battersea Power Station would become, and the winning proposal was a mega theme park. But between the theme park idea and the shopping complex that actually opened, the power station was nearly a number of other things.

While many Londoners are sure to be excited about the redevelopment, others may feel that London has missed out when they discover what could have been.

Theme park

The power station could have been a theme park with an aquarium and a botanical garden (John Broome)

Property developer John Broome acquired Battersea Power Station in 1987 and intended to transform it into a theme park called The Battersea.

Under Broome’s plans, a train would have taken visitors from Victoria station to the theme park, where they would have found rollercoasters, an aquarium with submarine rides, an ice rink, 4D cinemas, plus a botanical garden.

However, The Battersea was not meant to be. Renovating and maintaining the power station turned out to be more expensive than first thought. Then, when Broome’s bank went bust and the recession hit, he was forced to abandon the project.

Urban park

Terry Farrell planned to turn the power station into an urban park (Terry Farrell)

Architect and city planner Sir Terry Farrell proposed that the power station be transformed into an urban park. He intended to restore the station’s main tower and chimneys, and to exhibit the control rooms. He also wanted to demolish other parts of the building, including replacing the sides with open colonnade screens to create a park in the centre.

The park would have been used as a public leisure space as well as a venue for events.

Chelsea FC stadium

Chelsea FC hoped to transform the power station into a stadium (Chelsea Football Club)

Chelsea FC hoped Battersea Power Station would be transformed into its new stadium.

Architects’ firm Kohn Pedersen Fox created mockups of what the 60,000-seat stadium would have looked like, while the club submitted an official bid to take over the building.

However, the sellers of the power station decided to go with a Malaysian consortium, so Chelsea missed out on a new home south of the river.