Sweden’s Skanska has beaten off competition from Balfour Beatty, Lend Lease and Mace to win the contractor’s role in the $4.8bn (£3bn) redevelopment of Battersea Power Station in south-west London (pictured).
The deal could be worth up to $1.2bn (£750m) to Skanska, said the client, the Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC).
Mace was the initial favourite after it was named construction manager for £100m worth of enabling works, including demolishing and rebuilding the existing chimneys and restoring the historic structure. It has also overseen the survey and repair of the brick shell and the repair of the steelwork beneath the building’s four chimneys.
Philip Gullett, the chief operating officer at BPSDC, said: “Skanska’s appointment to restore and refurbish the power station is further demonstration of our shareholders’ commitment to the development and a major step towards opening up the Battersea Power Station to the public.Â
“Skanska is a leading contractor, with the experience and expertise to undertake the work required on this grade II-listed iconic building.”
Skanska is expected to begin enabling works in March 2015 with the aim of completion sometime in 2019. The site handover from Mace to Skanska will be completed by the end of next month.
Global launch
The developers of the project, which remains the largest brick building in Europe, is a joint venture between two Malaysian companies: developer SP Setia and the conglomerate Sime Darby, which bought the site for $645m in 2012.Â
They have announced that there will be a “global launch” of the project today, 31 October.Â
A series of exhibitions will be held in the US, Europe and the Asia Pacific. There will be 3,500 homes, 150 stores and workspaces for 15,000 people as well as 12 football pitches-worth of open space and 60 restaurants, cafes and bars.Â
The launch comes 31 years after the power station ceased generating electricity, and after a long history of aborted projects, including schemes drawn up by Hong Kong firm Parkview and Irish developer Real Estate Opportunities.
The new Battersea Power Station
Construction is to follow a design drawn up by the Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly, which was approved by Wandsworth council in 2012.Â
This envisages making the power station the centre of a much wider redevelopment of the 17ha site. The masterplan would surround the power station with linear apartment blocks, a hotel and office towers separated by parks and squares.
There will also be a new underground station connected to the power station by a retail arcade. These buildings, which belong to phase three of the project, will be designed by Foster + Partners and Gehry Partners.
Viñoly said the aim was to lead the visitor to “re-encounter the power station itself”. The power station was actually two plants, so the interior is divided into two vast turbine halls, each as large as the Tate Modern.Â
Embedded in the centre will be cascading staircase and 2,000 seat conference centre, together with six floors of office space punctuated by a series of atriums. The original chimneys will be used for stack ventilation.
