Battersea Power Station spent 40 years as London's most glamorous ruin — four white chimneys rising from a decommissioned Art Deco cathedral of electricity, famous from the Pink Floyd album cover, visible from half the city, and stubbornly refusing every developer's attempt to do something with it. Six different owners tried and failed. One went bankrupt. Another proposed a theme park. The building just sat there, magnificent and empty, while London built around it.
It finally opened in 2022 after a £9 billion redevelopment that's one of the largest in European history. The original Turbine Hall A — designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, the same architect behind Tate Modern's building — has been restored to its original steel-and-brick grandeur, with Art Deco control rooms preserved behind glass like exhibits in their own right. The building now contains shops, restaurants, a cinema, offices, and apartments that start at prices that would make your eyes water.
The Lift 109 experience takes you up inside the northwest chimney — the original 1930s structure — in a glass elevator that rises to a viewing platform 109 metres above the Thames. The view north across the river to Chelsea and beyond is spectacular, and the sensation of being inside one of London's most iconic silhouettes is genuinely surreal. Come at sunset when the white chimneys turn gold and the river catches the light.
Verified Facts
Battersea Power Station was decommissioned in 1983 after 50 years of operation
The redevelopment cost approximately £9 billion
The building appeared on Pink Floyd's 1977 album Animals
Lift 109 takes visitors 109 metres up inside the northwest chimney
The power station was also designed by Giles Gilbert Scott
Get walking directions
Battersea Power Station, Circus Road West, London SW11 8DD
