Hasta La Ideas

News: Frank Gehry and Norman Foster have been appointed to design a series of buildings as part of the £8 billion redevelopment of Battersea Power Station in London.

Los Angeles firm Gehry Partners will collaborate with London office Foster + Partners to carry out phase three of the Rafael Viñoly-designed masterplan, adding a shopping street to connect the old Victorian power station with a new London Underground station, and building residential neighbourhoods on either side.

The two firms will co-design the retail stretch, known as The High Street, which will encompass shops, restaurants, a library, a hotel and a leisure centre. Foster + Partners will add residential buildings to the east, while Gehry will work on the residential zone to the west – the architect’s first major project in the UK.

“Our goal is to help create a neighbourhood and a place for people to live that respects the iconic Battersea Power Station while connecting it into the broader fabric of the city,” said Gehry. “We hope to create a design that is uniquely London, that respects and celebrates the historical vernacular of the city.”

Speaking to the Financial Times, he described his ambition to add a sculptural form to the centre of his design. “The developers said the [potential] renters loved the view of the power station, so I said why don’t we put a more sculptural object, we call it a ‘flower’, in the middle, as a secondary sculpture for Battersea – it gives something for everybody,” he told the paper.

Grant Brooker, design director at Foster + Partners, added: “[The project] has a vision which will transform this area and create a vibrant new district for South London that we can all be proud of.”

The Giles Gilbert Scott-designed Battersea Power Station has been out of use since 1983 and has been subject to a number of unsuccessful proposals over the last 30 years, including a stadium for Chelsea Football Club, a public garden and a theme park.

The latest masterplan by New York architect Rafael Viñoly includes the construction of 3,400 new homes. London firm Wilkinson Eyre is working on the renovation of the power station, while Ian Simpson Architects and dRMM are carrying out phase one of the surrounding development.

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