Control Room B Bar, Battersea Power Station
Control Room B Bar, Battersea Power Station has been carefully curated by Ellis Design Studio as an atmospheric, conceptual space which fuses utilitarian beauty with the joy and optimism of post war, mid-century British design.
Multi-award-winning Interior Designers, Ellis Design Studio have designed a spectacular new cocktail bar 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.
Control Room B originally helped supply 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 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.
The original Control Room fittings and switchgear 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.
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 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. 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.
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.
Design: Ellis Design Studio
Contractor: Nebula Project
Photography: Johnny Stephens Photography
