First phase plans for Battersea Power Station submitted

Under phase one of the project two new buildings would be constructed on vacant land to the west of the power station with heights varying from eight to 18 storeys. The buildings would provide 800 homes, a hotel, office space and leisure space to be used for cafes, restaurants, bars, a gym, pool, spa and theatre. The buildings would be set within a new six-acre public park, which would link directly to Battersea Park.

The full masterplan, by architect Rafael Viñoly, sets out a complete regeneration of the site, including the listed power station. The mixed-use redevelopment includes 3,500 private and affordable homes; 160,000 square metres of new office space; 56,000 sq m of retail space, and nine hectares of public realm. The masterplan has been agreed by English Heritage and the Design Council.

The 39-acre power station site was acquired last month by the Battersea Project Holding Company Limited (BPHCL), a joint venture Malaysian consortium comprising Sime Darby Berhad, S P Setia Berhad and the Employees Provident Fund. BPLC is the wholly owned subsidiary of BPHCL.

"The new owners picked up the keys just two months ago so it's very encouraging to see the project moving ahead so quickly," said Wandsworth Council leader Ravi Govindia. "This site is vital to the regeneration of the wider Nine Elms on the South Bank area and in particular the Northern Line Extension. Our planning team has started to go through the application documents in detail and is writing to local stakeholder to ask for their views."

Wandsworth Council granted outline planning consent to the project last year. The scheme is part of the plans for the overall regeneration of Nine Elms, which includes redevelopment of around two million sq m on London's South Bank to create up to 16,000 new homes, as well as plans for two new underground stations extending from the Northern line.