Self-study activity:
Watch the 5-minute video clip through in the first place to get acquainted with the ideas Rafael Vinoly sets out and to absorve some of the visual information.
Watch the video again and answer the questions below.
The video is suitable for intermediate 2 students.
1 How many residential buildings are planned?
2 What does 'three main avenues' refer to?
3 What is the main reference throughout the site?
4 What is the 'prospect'?
5 How will vehicles gain access to the site?
6 How big are the turbine halls?
7 What does 'two thousand' refer to?
8 How big is the office space?
9 What type of energy will the power station produce?
You can check the answers by reading the transcript below.
I’m Rafael Vinoly. I’m the master planner for the new project for the redevelopment of the Battersea Power Station site. The most important object of the site is, of course, the power station, which remains the central focus of the plan. The power station is then framed by two residential buildings and that guides the view towards its heart that is the main public space.
To the south of the station we are creating a hotel and an office block and two residential blocks. The access to this site then from the south is achieved through three main avenues.
The high street links the new tube station with the town square and it is a two-level pedestrian thoroughfare that is activated by retail frontages, cafes, and art galleries creating a very active urban life.
Imagine you’re exiting from the tube below. The upper level is very much linked to the lower level. From here you start seeing the architecture of the buildings that define the space of the high street leading towards the power station in the back, so the power station always remains as a main reference to orient yourself through the site.
The second and perhaps most spectacular point of access is what we call the ‘prospect’. The main purpose of the prospect is to link the lower community to the site to enable people to have a clear view of the power station from Battersea Park Road. It’s activated again by a series of cafes and opportunities for people to enjoy the space itself. It’s lined by trees highlighted by this reflecting pool that drips down into the public space to maximize the presence of the building and the whole experience of walking through the site.
Hotel Lane is a tree-lined boulevard that is the main point of entrance into the site for vehicles and main access to a new building which is a hotel that opens into a larger square which is open to the sunlight from the south.
The part will become a leisure destination for visitors, it will be a resource for the use of residents but also for the public at large.
Pathways through the open park land reflect the historic pattern and the typical tradition of London public spaces.
All of these public spaces lead you to the experience of reencountering the power station renovated again into a very important attraction.
Both turbine halls are also going to be renovated. Each of them is the size of the Tate Modern Gallery.
Invading the centre of the power station there is a huge conference center with a wonderful two-thousand seater for banquets and events of many kinds linked directly to the access from a series of cascading stairs.
At the top of the building there are six floors of office space punctuated by a series of atriums that bring
natural light to the spaces.
The important story behind this is that the power station returns to its original function. It will become again a power station producing carbon-neutral energy venting water vapor through the original stacks.
This is a very well balanced solution for a site with an enormous set of opportunities and challenges. It will revitalize a view of the power station to create a new destination for London.
