The iconic Battersea Power Station is to be brought back to life in the most advanced sustainable development ever to be built in this country.
For the first time in a quarter of a century, Battersea Power Station will be used to generate electricity again but from renewable sources rather than coal.
Rob Tincknell, Managing Director of REO's Development Manager, Treasury Holdings UK, said: "We don't embark on projects that we can't deliver. We are determined that Londoners will not be disappointed and this area will be brought back to life in the most spectacular way. It will be a place to live, work and play."
Alongside the existing power station there will be a new landmark, high quality building designed by the world-renowned architect Rafael Vinoly, which will be the cleanest and greenest building in London through innovative use of natural ventilation.
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A spectacular 300 metre high Chimney and Eco-Dome will dramatically reduce carbon emissions of the 38 acre £4 billion development. The Chimney will also house apartments with panoramic views over London. The largest solar driven natural ventilation system ever conceived will eliminate the need for air conditioning for the commercial and ground floor retail accommodation.
The Chimney will draw air up through a campus of high quality individual office buildings which are covered by the light, transparent Eco-Dome, made of material similar to that used at the Eden Project. Up to 3,000 cubic metres per second of air will be drawn through the system on a sunny day, reducing energy demand in the buildings by 67%.
REO is planning to spend £150 million on saving and repairing Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's 1930s power station, with the key historic spaces retained and open to the public. It will be developed to incorporate hotel, residential and retail accommodation. It will once again be used to produce power with a new combined cooling, heat and power plant, but this time using biofuels, waste and other renewable energy sources. Two of the existing power station's chimneys will be reused as flues for this new Energy Centre.
The Battersea Power Station development will be home to around 7,000 people and up to 20,000 new jobs will be created. More than 3,200 homes will be built on the site and 2,500 jobs will be created during the construction phase.
It is planned that construction work will start in 2012 and the development will be completed by 2020 - depending on the speed of the planning process.
The site is the single largest development site in central London and will act as a catalyst for the regeneration of the wider Nine Elms Corridor.
(CD/JM)
