Homes have gone on sale at ‘Powerhouse’, the transformed Lots Road Power Station on Chelsea Creek
(Picture: Handout)Multi million-pound apartments in London’s oldest power station have gone on sale today after 20 years of planning, design and construction.
Lots Road Power Station on Chelsea Creek was built in 1902 and predates its limelight-hogging counterpart Battersea Power Station on the opposite side of the Thames by 39 years.
The red brick building was constructed in the first full year of the Edwardian era comprising two vast halls, four towering chimneys and a frame made of 6,000 tonnes of steel.
It consumed 700 tonnes of coal ferried to the site by barge along the River Thames and powered the underground network from 1905 to 1985 and kept the capital moving even during the Blitz.
The launch on Thursday of the newly dubbed ‘Powerhouse’ will reveal an 8.85 acre with two new glass residential towers at the mouth of the creek (of 37 and 25 floors). They frame the power station, with sleek, low-slung bridges almost brushing the top of the waterways connecting the different buildings.
To preserve the historic structure and its remaining two chimneys (two were taken down when it was closed), a new apartment complex has been built inside the original skin.
Designed by the architect Sir Terry Farrell, the homes are arranged around a main atrium and planning permission has been secured to put a market stall-size juice or coffee bar at the base of one of the chimneys. On the south-facing side overlooking the water the original arched windows now house private balconies.
There are 260 homes in total with two blocks on site dedicated to social housing for locals and 61 affordable homes inside the power station itself.
Facilities include a 24-hour concierge service, a health and fitness centre with a spa, 20m swimming pool and a gym and there is a Residents Club Lounge.
Homes range from two to four bedrooms and prices start at £1,695,000.
Knight Frank partner Chris Jones, who is selling the scheme, says the Hong Kong developers CK Hutchison has devoted "time, effort and money" into preserving this Grade II listed heritage building and bringing it back to life. "Such restoration comes with a hefty price tag," Jones tells H&P ahead of the sales launch this week.
"To everyone living in this part of London, Lots Road Power Station has always been present but it will have been difficult for those passing by to work out what would emerge. Next to a vast project like Battersea, which is the creation of a whole village, Lots Road really has been London’s best kept secret," he says.
According to Jones interested parties so far are owner occupiers rather than investors, with millionaires from the Middle East after a second home or family hub first in the queue. The other buyer types making early enquiries are domestic downsizers or Londoners using family money who are attracted by the apartment sizes (from 604 sq ft to 4,017 sq ft) and by the position on the water on the edge of Chelsea.
"This part of town, on the north side of the river, was heavily bombed during the war, so industrial plants were either destroyed during the Blitz or pulled down afterwards. It’s therefore rare in this area to have such a building still standing and to be able to enjoy it," says Jones.
The gardens with secluded and planted seating areas overlooking the water were designed by landscape architects from the practice Randle Siddeley and the interiors by Fiona Barrett-Campbell. There’s a solid granite concierge desk, a nod to coal, and full height evergreen trees planted in the atrium.
The developer CK Hutchison Holdings Limited bought Lots Road Power Station after it closed in 2002 and has spent two decades planning its restoration and redevelopment.
The insfrastructure group was founded by Hong Kong’s richest man Li Ka-Shing. The businessman and philanthropist has retired as chairman to take a back seat as senior advisor with his son Victor running the group which has 300,000 employees in 50 different countries.
On the other side of London, but also on the Thames, the group is also developing a 41-acre dockyard site with 500m of river frontage in Deptford to deliver 3,500 homes over 15 years.
