Battersea Power Station has reached practical completion of Grade II* listed Power Station. Eight years after starting on site, the landmark building is set to open to the public this autumn.

The Grade II* listed building includes 254 apartments, over 500,000 sq ft of office space, and unique events and leisure offering, including the chimney lift experience, which will take visitors 109 metres up to the top of the Power Station’s north-west chimney, offering stunning 360-degree views of London’s skyline. The Power Station’s Turbine Halls house over 100 shops, bars and restaurants.

The six-acre riverfront park opened to the public earlier this year and hosted the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, attended by more than 80,000 people.

Thousands of jobs were created for the construction and design industries as part of the building’s restoration, and over 2,500 jobs are created once the Power Station opens to the public.

Architect WilkinsonEyre, construction managers Mace Group and Historic England, have done extensive and highly skilled conservation work throughout the Power Station to preserve and enhance its historic features. This includes the building’s four iconic chimneys, which have been rebuilt using the original construction method, having been deemed unsafe following extensive surveys. More than 25,000 wheelbarrows of concrete were poured by hand into shuttered layers which were left to set one by one. Samples of the original paint were also taken and colour-matched to determine the choice of paint applied, with each chimney requiring 375 litres.

About 1.75 million handmade bricks were ordered from the two original British brickmakers who supplied the bricks to build Battersea Power Station to match the originals. Family-owned Northcot Brick, based in Gloucestershire, have made 1.3 million bricks to restore parts of the Power Station built in the 1930s and 1940s, while 440,000 bricks from Blockleys in Telford, Shropshire, were used to refurbish the final parts of the building dating from the 1950s.

Simon Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC), commented: “Today, on behalf of the Shareholders, Sime Darby Property, S P Setia and the Employees’ Provident Fund, we are proud to announce the practical completion of the main build of Battersea Power Station, creating a new destination for all to live, work, eat and play. This is the culmination of nearly eight years of painstaking restoration work, transforming this former derelict building into a World-class destination to be enjoyed for generations. We are now working with the retail and leisure brands as they fit out their spaces ahead of the opening of this wonderful building to the public for the first time in Autumn.

We thank the entire team of highly skilled experts and visionaries who have been integral and committed in helping turn the shareholders’ vision into a reality.”

Gareth Lewis, CEO for Mace Construct, added: “We are extremely proud of the exceptional work the Mace team, our specialist trade contractors, our fantastic client Battersea Power Station, architects WilkinsonEyre and the wider project team have delivered on the restoration of one of the UK’s architectural icons. This has been one of the most complex construction projects ever delivered in the UK and we’re looking forward to seeing a building that was left derelict for nearly forty years, come alive and be a hive of activity for all to enjoy.”

London’s newest pedestrianised high street, Electric Boulevard, is also set to open this year. Designed by Gehry Partners and Foster + Partners, the new high street, will feature shops, restaurants, a community hub, a new park and a 164-room art’otel, the brand’s first hotel in the UK overlooking the Power Station itself.

Circus West Village, the first chapter in the regeneration of Battersea Power Station, already includes Sugen Gopal’s Roti King, Francesco Mazzei’s Fiume and Chef Vivek Singh’s Cinnamon Kitchen. The new riverside neighbourhood is home to more than 1,800 residents and over 20 cafés, bars, restaurants, shops, fitness and leisure facilities.

Visit batterseapowerstation.co.uk to find out more.