Treasury's generates new plan for Battersea station

TREASURY HOLDINGS appears to have abandoned plans for a 250-metre “eco-chimney” as part of its redevelopment of the iconic Battersea power station in London.

Treasury’s plans for the site have faced stiff local opposition led by mayor Boris Johnson, with the result that Uruguayan architect Rafael Vinoly has had to redraft his plans for the £4 billion project.

According to reports in the British press, the latest proposal, which emerged recently as part of a public consultation by Wandsworth Council on the regeneration of the Nine Elms area, shows a glass roof curving over the listed building, with a series of medium-rise blocks on either side.

Rob Tincknell, managing director of Treasury’s UK and international operations, told Building Design magazine: “The site will be transformed into the first large-scale, urban, carbon-neutral development in the UK.”

Mr Tincknell said it would provide about 13,000 jobs, 3,500 homes and a new six-acre riverside park. It would also involve extending the Tube underground to the site by 2015.

The latest design has received a “cautious welcome” from Save Britain’s Heritage, which likes to describe itself as Britain’s “most influential conservation group”.

Battersea power station is the largest brick-built building in the world. It is being redeveloped by Real Estate Opportunities (REO), a property company majority-owned by Treasury, which in turn is controlled by Irish businessmen Johnny Ronan and Richard Barrett.

REO acquired Battersea in 2006, appointing Treasury as development manager for the site. In its 2008 results, REO wrote down the value of Battersea to £406 million from £450 million a year earlier.

A planning application is expected by the end of this year.