Battersea Power Station to open on October 14 with chimney lift tourist experience


Paul Carey
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After nearly a decade of restoration, and almost half its lifetime out of action, Battersea Power Station will finally open on October 14, creating a new visitor attraction for London.

The building, which has been a prominent feature on the south bank of the Thames since it first generated electricity in 1933, has undergone an extraordinary makeover. Its four corner chimneys were taken down and rebuilt brick by brick, its two turbine halls (one art deco from the 1930s, the other brutalist 1950s) painstakingly restored and its boiler house, which stood open to the elements after its roof was removed during a previous scheme, stripped back and turned into a grand atrium with more than a nod to its industrial past.

After £9 billion spending, its owners hope it will form part of a new “town centre” for south-west London, replete with 250 shops, restaurants, office space and luxury apartments. A new underground station serving the area opened last year.

It will open with a five-day festival of power featuring Arcadia’s ‘Lords of Lightning’, a multimillion-volt duelling spectacle.

But for visitors, the experience which may set it apart from other shopping destinations is the chimney elevator, called Lift 109. At 109 metres, it is not as high as the London Eye but taller than Big Ben.

A specially designed lift takes guests up the inside of its north-west chimney, allowing them to pop out of the top to be given a panoramic view of the London skyline and a new take on the power station’s past and present. It has a glass ceiling and sides, with the lift mechanism hidden so it does not spoil the view.

The experience lasts for around seven minutes and takes approximately 15 people at a time. An immersive experience about the power station has also been created.

The chimneys are described as the “DNA” of the power station site.

Half a century expelling flue gases from one of the largest coal-fired power stations in the world had taken its toll and the chimneys needed to be replaced.

They were rebuilt to the precise specification of the original structures, using architects’ initial plans, to ensure they looked identical to the original but also meaning they will have the same lifespan as the rest of the restored building.

Place in London's history

Visitors to the rejuvenated power station will still see strong elements of its industrial past, from equipment that now stands as art, cranes and gantries that have been retained and even doors to the directors’ office which were found behind a reception desk still featuring the Greek symbols for power and energy. Six million bricks were used to construct the site, with 1.75 million new ones ordered from the original makers as part of the restoration.

Control room A, which featured in the multi-award-winning film The King’s Speech and will now be used as an events space, retains its original circuit display panels showing how 20 per cent of London was once powered. Eagle-eyed viewers will notice that Carnaby Street appears three times – the second and third displays were actually code for Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament.

Simon Murphy, chief executive of Battersea Power Station Development Company, joked: “If you pulled the wrong lever for Carnaby Street, you would have turned off the kettle at Buckingham Palace.”

Battersea Power Station - old control dials for the streets of London. Paul Carey / The National
Battersea Power Station - old control dials for the streets of London. Paul Carey / The National

The power station's instantly recognisable chimneys were used by British pilots during the Second World War as a signpost that they had reached home. Perhaps surprisingly given its key role in powering London, it was not targeted by German bombers, as they also used it to navigate. One bomb did land in Turbine Hall A but did not explode.

Battersea Power Station — also notable for featuring on the cover of Pink Floyd album Animals — closed in 1983, leaving its future uncertain but locals insistent that the building should remain in some form.

A string of doomed schemes to find a new purpose for the building followed, including an amusement park and even a potential home for Chelsea FC.

Mr Murphy said the Malaysian consortium which bought the crumbling building in 2012 had proved the doubters wrong.

“Any number of people said they would fail as well,” he said, but pointed out that a lot of action in the first few months had proved key to success.

He remains confident that the project, which currently stands at 90 per cent occupancy or retail and 96 per cent for office space, will power through the cost-of-living and energy crisis as it had the disruption of Covid-19.

He said that as well as tourists, the development team hopesx to harness the spending power of locals, suggesting that 80 per cent of Wandsworth borough residents' spending takes place out of the area, “a £1bn a year leak.”

Up to 25,000 people will live or work on site. Apple has taken up the biggest share of office space, although it does not include an Apple store, while apartment blocks have been designed by Foster and Partners, and Gehry Partners.

An architect's dream (or nightmare)

There is no doubting the project was an enormous challenge. It was one of the largest brick buildings in Europe. St Paul’s Cathedral could fit inside the boiler house alone. Architects WilkinsonEyre set out to pay homage to its heritage and vision of original architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who also designed the New Bodleian Library in Oxford and Liverpool Cathedral.

The project’s lead architect Sebastien Ricard said: “We didn’t want to over-restore the building, but keep the industrial feel.”

He is clearly proud of the restored 1930s art deco half, which involved removing every marble tile, fixing the 90-year-old parquet floor and scraping off decades of pigeon faeces. But when asked which turbine hall he preferred, the almost Soviet-style hall B gets the nod. “Art deco is more photogenic,” he told The National. “But B is quirkier, you could do more with it. Nothing is symmetrical, we had to work with that and make sure it didn’t look like a mistake.”

Mr Murphy said: “Opening the building to the public for the first time in history in just a few days’ time is a monumental moment for the project. We can’t wait to welcome the first visitors and show the local community, Londoners, and the rest of the world, the historic beauty of the Grade II*-listed building.”

Timeline

2012-2015

The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East

May 2017

The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts

September 2021

Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act

October 2021

Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence 

December 2024

Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group

May 2025

The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan

July 2025

The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan

August 2025

Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision

October 2025

Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange

November 2025

180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE

The biog

Hometown: Cairo

Age: 37

Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror

Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing

Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition

Thank You for Banking with Us

Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

The bio

Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home

Honeymoonish
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elie%20El%20Samaan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENour%20Al%20Ghandour%2C%20Mahmoud%20Boushahri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

Simran

Director Hansal Mehta

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey

Three stars

ESSENTIALS

The flights 
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
 

The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.

TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:

- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools

- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say

- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance

- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs

- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills

- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month

- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
EA Sports FC 25
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters

The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.

 Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.

A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.

The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.

The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.

Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.

Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment

But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.

The President's Cake

Director: Hasan Hadi

Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem 

Rating: 4/5

Libya's Gold

UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves. 

The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.

Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.

Defence review at a glance

• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”

• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems

• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.

• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%

• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade

• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels

Sun jukebox

Rufus Thomas, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (1953)

This rip-off of Leiber/Stoller’s early rock stomper brought a lawsuit against Phillips and necessitated Presley’s premature sale to RCA.

Elvis Presley, Mystery Train (1955)

The B-side of Presley’s final single for Sun bops with a drummer-less groove.

Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955)

Originally recorded for Sun, Cash’s signature tune was performed for inmates of the titular prison 13 years later.

Carl Perkins, Blue Suede Shoes (1956)

Within a month of Sun’s February release Elvis had his version out on RCA.

Roy Orbison, Ooby Dooby (1956)

An essential piece of irreverent juvenilia from Orbison.

Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire (1957)

Lee’s trademark anthem is one of the era’s best-remembered – and best-selling – songs.

The%20US%20Congress%20explained
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Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants

Racecard

7pm: Abu Dhabi - Conditions (PA) Dh 80,000 (Dirt) 1,600m

7.30pm: Dubai - Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,400m

8pm: Sharjah - Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,600m

8.30pm: Ajman - Handicap (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 2,200m

9pm: Umm Al Quwain - The Entisar - Listed (TB) Dh132,500 (D) 2,000m

9.30pm: Ras Al Khaimah - Rated Conditions (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m

10pm: Fujairah - Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,200m

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What is a Ponzi scheme?

A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.

Results
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Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books

The most expensive investment mistake you will ever make

When is the best time to start saving in a pension? The answer is simple – at the earliest possible moment. The first pound, euro, dollar or dirham you invest is the most valuable, as it has so much longer to grow in value. If you start in your twenties, it could be invested for 40 years or more, which means you have decades for compound interest to work its magic.

“You get growth upon growth upon growth, followed by more growth. The earlier you start the process, the more it will all roll up,” says Chris Davies, chartered financial planner at The Fry Group in Dubai.

This table shows how much you would have in your pension at age 65, depending on when you start and how much you pay in (it assumes your investments grow 7 per cent a year after charges and you have no other savings).

Age

$250 a month

$500 a month

$1,000 a month

25

$640,829

$1,281,657

$2,563,315

35

$303,219

$606,439

$1,212,877

45

$131,596

$263,191

$526,382

55

$44,351

$88,702

$177,403

 

Updated: October 05, 2022, 3:10 PM