Battersea Power Station: From Derelict Power Station to Thriving Riverside Neighbourhood
By
11 months ago
The transformation of the century
Battersea Power Station is an entry in our Great British Brands 2024 book.
Battersea Power Station: Great British Brand 2024
‘Since opening the Power Station in October 2022, we’ve welcomed more than 11 million visitors and over 35 new shops, eateries and leisure experiences, bringing the total to over 140 across the neighbourhood. We experienced three of our busiest weeks since opening during the festive period with lots of people visiting to do their Christmas shopping and to enjoy our riverside ice rink, Glide.
Our events programme is a big draw and this has grown since the opening of the six-acre park in front of the Power Station, which regularly hosts pop-ups and events. Last year’s highlights include Aperol Spritz’s Aperidisco, NFL Experience London and The Battersea Games, which paved the way for us being named an official London fan zone for the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.
As a new destination, we’re still learning about our visitors and AI is something we’re looking at to help with this. Building sophisticated tech infrastructure into a legacy building retrospectively is always hard. However, as an entirely new development, we were able to build this in and start collecting data immediately, which has been invaluable.
Since the Power Station and Electric Boulevard opened, 6,500 workers are now based here, and the riverside neighbourhood is home to a thriving community of 2,500 residents. We have an app for them to communicate with one another and receive special offers from brands on the estate, and plan to use AI further to offer personalised experiences for residents, as well as workers on site.
There are lots more exciting things to come at Battersea Power Station in 2024 including further retail openings and the launch of our new office space, 50 Electric Boulevard. We’re still on a journey but the scale of the transformation we’ve achieved already is incredible.’
Sam Cotton, Head of Asset Management
Five Proudest Moments
- The first residents moving into their new homes inside the Power Station in May 2021.
- The opening of the Zone 1 Battersea Power Station Underground station in September 2021 as part of the Northern Line Extension. There were over eight million taps ins and outs in the 12 months following the opening of the Power Station.
- Opening our doors to the public for the first time in history on 14th October 2022 after an eight-year restoration of the Grade II*-listed Power Station.
- Welcoming more than 11 million visitors during the first year after opening the Power Station and Electric Boulevard.
- Apple moving into its new 500,000 sq/ft office space inside the Power Station. Partnering with David Hockney and Apple to unveil the ‘Bigger Christmas Trees’ animation on the front of the Power Station in December 2023.
What I’ve Learnt…
- Don’t engage with the market until you’re ready as it takes time to understand the customer and what they want from a retail and leisure destination.
- Never believe the horizon is clear, there can always be unexpected challenges ahead such as Covid-19.
- Nurture long-term relationships with brands as they are crucial to bringing a commercial enterprise to life.
BATTERSEA POWER STATION
Circus Road West, Nine Elms
London SW11 8DD
