Battersea Power Station: the power of dreams

Battersea Power Station as it was in 1936, with only two chimneys; the second pair of chimneys were added later
Photograph: Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

1987: John Broome, the impresario behind Alton Towers, inside the vast marbled turbine hall of the power station. Broome's consortium announced plans to convert the building into a Disney-style leisure complex
Photograph: PA

1988: Prime minister Margaret Thatcher unveils plans for Europe's largest leisure park to be built at the station
Photograph: Steve Back/Daily Mail/Rex Features

2001: A design for a permanent performance home for the Cirque du Soleil was granted planning approval in 2001
Photograph: Grimshaw

The power station as it was in 2003, still derelict
Photograph: David Levene

2005: Designed by Grimshaw for developers Parkview, this redevelopment proposed the power station as entertainment and leisure destination containing bars, restaurants, cinemas and retail outlets, along with a rooftop hotel by celebrated designer Ron Arad
Photograph: PR/PA

Another view of the proposed Grimshaw/Parkview redevelopment, seen from above the river
Photograph: PR/PA

Artist's impression of Ron Arad’s scheme for a luxury hotel on top of the power station
Photograph: Ron Arad Architects Ltd

Grimshaw’s final scheme for the power station was to include a rooftop 'Grazing Plateau' along with a new home for the Victoria & Albert Museum
Photograph: Grimshaw

The power station standing behind hoardings in 2005, at the point where Parkview's redevelopment work was due to begin
Photograph: Graeme Robertson/Getty Images

But in 2006 the south London landmark was more dilapidated than ever, something particularly apparent from the air
Photograph: Dan Chung

2007: Photographers inside a still empty and roofless turbine hall
Photograph: Graeme Robertson

2008: Another redevelopment plan. A firm of Irish developers, REO, wanted to relaunch the famous site as a power station, featuring a new, much taller chimney rising 300 metres (984ft) as part of a vast plastic eco-dome
Photograph: PR

The turbine hall as it would have looked in this development. As well as offices and retail space, the project included plans for 3,200 homes
Photograph: Treasury Holdings

An aerial view of the site as it would have appeared, looking east across the city
Photograph: Treasury Holdings

A roof garden was part of REO's proposal
Photograph: Treasury Holdings

2009: Another year, another redevelopment plan as the towering chimney is vetoed by the London mayor, Boris Johnson
Photograph: PA

2009: The Conservatives launch their election manifesto at Battersea Power Station. REO was hoping to spin off the redevelopment project and float it on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim)
Photograph: David Levene

2011: An inflatable pig flies above Battersea Power Station in a recreation of Pink Floyd's 'Animals' album cover. The holding company for the power station was placed in administration; Chelsea football club were thought to be strong candidates for the site at one stage Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

2012: An artist's impression of how the latest proposal, an £8bn redevelopment of the 39-acre site led by a Malaysian consortium, will look Photograph: Employees Provident Fund/PA

The power station and its concrete towers will form the centre point of the development Photograph: Employees Provident Fund/PA

But there's a lot of work to do... Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters