Battersea Power Station

Lucas has now completed one of the most comprehensive and demanding projects we have ever undertaken.

We have been deeply involved in the refurbishment and redevelopment of Grade II* listed Battersea Power Station for the last five years. We deployed numerous teams at different stages of the project which tested our best craftsmen and made full use of our latest technologies and innovative techniques.

We created brilliant solutions to some extremely challenging issues during the course of the project. But as a result Lucas is very proud to have played a key role in the successful delivery of a rejuvenated, iconic London landmark, the centrepiece of the redevelopment of this part of south London and a wonderful new destination for residents, tourists and overseas visitors alike.

Back in 2017 a Lucas fit out team operated flat out to deliver a complex programme of temporary accommodation works to cater for over 2,000 construction workers delivering Phase 2 of this huge redevelopment.

We fitted out a reception area, toilets, showers, kitchen facilities, meeting rooms and welfare facilities as work on the project accelerated and the number of operatives on site rose sharply.

Lucas painting teams then carried out extensive decorations programmes to include over 250 luxury apartments ranging in size from studios to six bedroom duplexes built inside the former power station, alongside commercial and retail units creating a breathtaking mixed use development of this vast building.

Lucas’s heritage team restored and refurbished the two former control rooms within the power station and the original art deco directors’ entrance, staircase and reception area.

The two control rooms included original 1930s and 1950s electrical equipment, wooden parquet floors, feature marble and stone walls, elegant brass work and lantern lights. We restored and reinstalled hundreds of old components – switches, control knobs, handles, dials and bezels, and synchroscope housings used in power systems at the time.

However, many controls were broken or missing. So we made full use of our 3D printing facilities to scan and clone original components out of composite materials and coat them with special treatments that make them look and feel indistinguishable from the originals. This required extensive laboratory trialling and precise engineering to create bespoke metal-like finishes and “cold-to-touch” patinas sprayed in our own booths.

The control room in the events space also specified rusted steel panels covering large exposed areas. An exact match with natural rust was required. We developed a high metal-content barrier coating that we rusted independently. It sealed the steel panels, inhibits further rusting and allows people to touch it without leaving any residue on their fingers. We completed the process with a transparent, hardened waxed coating for durability.

We used photogrammetry - that’s combining 360º photography with laser scanning - to create 3D maps, accurate to fractions of a millimetre. We scanned an historic, intricate Art Deco iron grid ceiling in poor condition in the power station, allowing us with computer-aided design to 3D print then suitably distress offsite hundreds of individual ceiling squares to be fitted perfectly. It saved a huge number of man hours of skilled craftsmen’s work.

Now one control room makes a wonderful high level feature in the residential area while the second provides a distinctive and atmospheric backdrop to an immensely popular cocktail bar and event facility.

Lucas has once again pushed the boundaries of fit out and finishing to make sure this complex restoration and refurbishment project was a great success.