Dezeen News: the new owners of Battersea Power Station say their £8bn revamp of the site will begin in 2013, ending more than 25 years of speculation over the future of the London landmark.
Earlier this week a consortium of Malaysian investors, comprising developers SP Setia and Sime Darby plus the Employees Provident Fund pension fund, completed its £400m purchase of the site.
The redevelopment is set to include 3400 new homes, a shopping centre, hotels, offices and an arts space. During the work, the power station's four white towers will also be removed and rebuilt using new materials. The first phase is intended to be complete within four years.
Situated on the south bank of the river Thames, the power station was built in two parts, the first completed in the 1930s and the second in the 1950s. It famously appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock film 'Sabotage' and on the cover of the Pink Floyd album 'Animals', and is now a Grade II* listed landmark.
Since ceasing electricity generation in 1983, the power station has largely remained vacant as developers have repeatedly failed to bring their proposals to fruition. Most recently, Chelsea Football Club was unsuccessful in its bid to turn the power station into a 60,000-capacity stadium.
In 2008, architect Rafael Viñoly put forward plans for a sustainable development to include a 300 metre high tower and 'eco-dome', while British architect Terry Farrell later unveiled proposals to remove the walls of the power station and turn it into a park.
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