Multi-award-winning Interior Designers, Ellis Design Studio have designed a spectacular new cocktail bar venue within Control Room B of at the very heart of the newly redeveloped Battersea Power Station. Battersea Power Station is a Grade II* listed, global architectural icon and one of London’s most recognisable landmarks and has recently re-opened after a multi-billion-pound redevelopment.
Control Room B originally helped manage the distribution of a fifth of London’s electricity, supplying power to some of London’s most recognisable landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. The spectacular new bar venue comprises.4,500sqft and is set amongst the panels of historic dials and switches of the original Control Room. Control Room B was completed in 1955 as a counterpart to the original Control Room A, built in the 1930’s. The Control Room was built in the austere Modernist style of the post-war period and the space is defined by the dramatic arc of the original stainless steel control desk, set against a backdrop of full height anthracite-coloured switchgear racks. The walls and octagonal columns feature original faience tiles in a delicate pale blue, contrasting against the beautifully brutalist machine aesthetic of the control panels.
For the first time ever, members of the public will be able to get up close to the Control Room’s historic dials and controls, which helped manage the distribution of a London’s electricity when the Power Station was operational.
The original Control Room fittings and switchgear complex are defining features of the space and have been fully restored as part of the regeneration of the Power Station. The iconic dials & switches have previously formed the backdrop to famous movie scenes and album covers, from the Beatles film Help to rock band Hawkweed’s album Quark.
Working on such a high profile and historically significant part of the Power Station required Ellis Design Studio to be extremely conscious of both aesthetic and technical considerations when devising the design scheme. The entirely freestanding design was carefully conceived by the Studio to ensure the design was sympathetic to the existing architecture yet felt anchored within the space as a new hospitality venue. The space has been arranged in a circular configuration, inspired by both the arched form of the existing historic stainless steel control desks and by the radial forms of the original Power Station turbine blades.
The design for the bar involved the creation of a spectacular turbine-inspired, metallic sculptural centrepiece, paying tribute to the character and form of Battersea Power Station’s electric, industrial history. An illuminated radial metal canopy adorned with delicately perforated metal fins encircles an existing central column, lending a sense of energy, movement and permeability.
The outer edge of the bar is surrounded by a dramatic wing-like arc of metallic lights, signifying the rebirth of the Power Station.Alan Ellis MD of Ellis Design Studio added “The design of the bar, with its radial canopy, seeks to capture the forms and momentum of the original power station turbines. The semi-circular sweep of arced feature lights to the outer edge of the bar is designed to suggest the capturing of a moment in time between rotational movements, thereby creating a sense of tension, anticipation and dynamism”Similarly, the utilitarian aesthetic of Control Room B closely informed the selection of materials for the scheme. The bar is fabricated almost entirely of metal in a variety of forms and finishes. Amber hued, domed textured lights to the bar front are suggestive of the viewing portholes into the original coal furnaces, which powered the turbines.
The materiality of the design scheme paid homage to the machine-age aesthetic, using aged brass, blackened & lacquered steels and various patinated & pleated metals, set against warm hued, custom laser-printed timbers.Bespoke lighting to the bar top and canopy was inspired by a brutalist aesthetic and was fabricated from fluted glass, antique brass and patinated aluminium.Furniture and upholstery selections were informed by mid-century patterns & pastel hued palettes, providing a softer juxtaposition to the coolness of the original metals and tiles within the space. The design of the venue has been carefully calibrated by Ellis Design Studio to ensure it both complements and showcases the dramatic surrounding original features of this landmark, historic space.
“Battersea Power Station is a global architectural icon and has long been a source of inspiration to the Studio. Designing a brand-new bar venue within Control Room B was incredibly exciting project to be asked to create. Having the opportunity to work within Battersea Power Station is a privilege for any designer and being appointed to work on such an iconic space as Control Room B was a huge honour for the Studio”. Alan Ellis, Founder & MD at Ellis Design Studio
The venue has been designed to create a beautifully atmospheric, conceptual space, which fuses the utilitarian beauty of the Control Rooms Brutalist aesthetic with the joy and optimism of post war, mid-century British design. “With its meticulously calibrated aesthetic, the design for Control Room B pays homage to the dawn of the modern age, fusing the vibrancy of British mid-century design with the austere beauty of Brutalism and the dynamism and energy of mechanical forms”. Alan Ellis, Founder & MD at Ellis Design Studio.
Team:
Designer: Ellis Design Studio
Photographer: Johnny Stephens
