News

Latest plans for ‘Battersea Roof Gardens’ and ‘Prospect Park’

Battersea Power Station Development Company (“BPSDC”) is pleased to reveal the latest designs for ‘Battersea Roof Gardens’ and ‘Prospect Park’ ahead of the Global Launch for Phase 3 of the development on Friday 31 October 2014.

Phase 3 Gehry Partners’ Prospect Place and Prospect Park

Published on
October 24, 2014

Share

Battersea Power Station Development Company (“BPSDC”) is pleased to reveal the latest designs for ‘Battersea Roof Gardens’ and ‘Prospect Park’ ahead of the Global Launch for Phase 3 of the development on Friday 31 October 2014.

The crowning jewel of the Foster + Partners ‘Battersea Roof Gardens’ is the landscaped garden that sits on top of 15 residential storeys and stretches over 355 metres long which is being designed by James Corner Field Operations who created the famous ‘High Line’ in New York City. This will be one of the largest roof gardens in London. The stunning space will be illuminated at night and will change subtly through the seasons. Whilst Field Operations have taken inspiration from America, this garden will be very different and more like a grand city garden, with more intimacy and moments to sit quietly as opposed to the public thoroughfare of New York’s High Line that sits on the raised disused railway lines. There will be opportunities throughout the year for the general public to enjoy this unique space, alongside the residents.
 
The idea of the space is to give residents and hotel guests the opportunity to enjoy not only this skyline of London, but the skyline and profile of The Power Station with a full 360 degree panorama. Along the garden walkways are various overlooks, seating areas and planted garden areas creating a dramatic sequence of unfolding experiences, attractions and spectacular vistas. There will be little pockets of sheltered quiet space, a lawned area and then more public areas, with access from the hotel below.

At the end of the rooftop is the ‘fitness deck’ that supports any number of resident uses and activities, from exercising and fitness classes to children’s play, gatherings and parties and small movie screenings. At the extreme tip of the rooftop is the ‘lookout’ ; residents can step through a narrow opening between large canopy trees into an intimate overlook that offers spectacular views of the Power Station and city.

The Woodland Walk will be the most beautiful and powerfully dramatic space on the rooftop; a dense forest of birch trees ‘in the sky’. The white trunks of the birch trees will be a theatrical foreground to the Power Station chimneys beyond. The garden walkways meander around the birch planters, creating a sense of journeying through the woodland, while also choreographing new views, vistas and orientations. Timber seating rings and free standing hammocks offer places to sit, relax and lay out.

At the centre of the rooftop is the Sun Lawn. Oriented directly perpendicular to the Power Station chimneys, it provides a wide open horizon to take in the view, the weather and the scene, while also allowing for activities. Picnicking, sunbathing, star gazing and evening movies may be especially popular day-to-day activities.

The Sun Lounge and Summer Kitchen will be the most active and social features for residents on the rooftop. Set within a flowering perennial garden, the Summer Kitchen offers residents a large, communal “farm table”, prep work station and a raised picnic lawn. Each of these features is an amenity for individuals using the farm table as a work surface to cater for small gatherings, lunches, BBQs and dinner parties.

North of the Summer Kitchen is the Sun Lounge; a collection of custom v-shaped chaises, that are alternately oriented to the south and to the sunset, or to the chimneys and the Gehry Partners ‘Flower’ building. The lounge will be a spectacular attraction for visitors to London: stepping out onto the rooftop, with the chimneys looming large in full-view. The lounge consists of several amenities for the hotel guests: cabanas, a bar, seating and dining areas, several theatrical ‘lookout’ spaces, all set within a garden setting of perennials, grasses and tall canopy trees.

James Corner, Principle of Field Operations describes the rooftop garden as: “ An extraordinarily serene yet dynamic place to view the Power Station, the Thames River, the City of London and the surrounding context.  The design of pathways, plantings, overlooks, furniture and special settings offer an air of theatricality and drama in the sky, making the garden a very special and unique experience in the context of London.”

Grant Brooker, Senior Executive Partner of Foster + Partner says: “We have worked on many gardens but never before on this scale. To create a garden this spectacular in our home city, that is so near to The Power Station that we all love is very special. There is simply no roof garden like this in any private development in the world so it really does offer a unique residential opportunity.”

As well as this stunning new roof garden Phase 3 development offers other new communal green areas for the residents and public to enjoy. To the east of ‘Prospect Place’, is a new 1.1 acre ‘Prospect Park;’ designed by Gehry Partners. This exciting new area will create a natural connection from Vauxhall via a new planned linear park that will lead from Battersea Power Station up towards the US Embassy and beyond.

Current plans for The Prospect Park involve a children’s play area in the northern end and a community hub building in the southern area. The Battersea Team will be engaging with a number of local primary schools over the coming months to hear what they think of the children’s area and create the most exciting and practical space that children actually want to play in. The 1900sq m community hub which is a standalone building will host lectures, performances and other community events. Sitting in the heart of the park the hub will be accessible to all the public and aims to inspire and educate. The park will be an open space to be used by children and adults and accessible throughout the day.

Rob Tincknell, Chief Executive Officer of BPSDC, said: “To be able to unveil these wonderful new park and garden designs is very exciting and it gives Londoners a better understanding of the type of community and place we are striving to build here at Battersea Power Station. To be working with two such innovative design teams reflects our passion for creativity and desire to create the ultimate new town centre. ”

In total 1,305 Gehry Partners and Foster + Partners designed homes will be built in Phase 3. 539 of the homes will be available as part of the commercial, retail, food & beverage launch which officially starts on Friday 31st October 2014. Pre-registered residential buyers will be invited for sales appointments in London from 24th October.

Prospective buyers should register their interest at www.batterseapowerstation.co.uk or by telephone: +44 (0)20 7501 0678 or email: sales@bpsdc.co.uk.

 


Related Stories