// Battersea Power Station unveils first wave of retail signings ahead of 2021 launch
// Hugo Boss, Uniqlo, Jo Malone, Space NK, Mac Cosmetics, Kiehl’s, Watches of Switzerland & Finlay & Co will set up shop once the complex opens
// More than 45% of Battersea Power Station’s retail & leisure space exchanged or under offer
Battersea Power Station has announced the first wave of British and international retailers set to open their doors in the iconic Grade II* listed building when it launches in 2021.
These include Hugo Boss, Uniqlo, Jo Malone, Space NK, Mac Cosmetics, Kiehl’s, Watches of Switzerland, emerging eyewear brand Finlay & Co and Malaysian pewter homeware retailer Royal Selangor.
The retailers will set up shop in the power station’s two Turbine Halls, as the iconic building continues to undergo its immense £9 billion redevelopment.
READ MORE: Coming soon: Battersea Power Station’s £9bn retail transformation
Turbine Hall A, which was built in the 1930s and retains Art Deco details, would be home to the premium collection of brands while Turbine Hall B, build in the 1950s with a brutalist look and feel, would bring together a mix of younger and more diverse brands.
The operator behind Olympic Studios and The Cinema at Selfridges, Archlight Cinema, will also open their second venue at Battersea Power Station.
These new lettings follow the recent announcement that boxing world champion Anthony Joshua’s BXR London will also open at Battersea Power Station, as part of the brand’s expansion after the original BXR gym in Marylebone.
As well as being home to the Battersea Power House, a collection of event spaces in partnership with Camm & Hooper, one of the power plant’s iconic northern chimneys will have a giant glass elevator installed to offer visitors 360-degree views of London from the top.
Once open, Battersea Power Station will be home to over a hundred retail, food and leisure brands that will complement the host of shops and restaurants already open at Circus West Village, the first chapter in the redevelopment.
Developers have said that approximately 70 per cent of the total commercial space within the power station complex is now let, adding that more than 45 per cent of the retail and leisure floor space exchanged or under offer.
An extension of the Northern line and a Zone 1 new tube station by Transport for London – also set to open 2021 – and a ferry wharf for Thames Clippers will also link Battersea Power Station to the rest of London.
Once fully opened, the complex is expected to become the third largest retail destination in Central London, provide over 17,000 jobs and attract tens of millions of visitors per year.
It is estimated that by the time the overall project – that is, the power station as well as its surrounds – is fully complete by 2028, £9 billion would have been spent to fund its construction and regeneration.
The very first phase of the redevelopment, Circus West Village, opened in 2017 and is now a hub of restaurants, cafés, bars and leisure offerings such as the The Turbine Theatre and the first Archlight Cinema.
Around 1000 residents live in Circus West Village already and developers say that more than three million people visited the area in the last year alone.
Battersea Power Station is managed by the BPSDC but owned by a consortium of Malaysian investors comprised of Sime Darby Property, SP Setia and the Employees’ Provident Fund.
The consortium acquired the site in 2012 for £400 million, and the current plans to regenerate it is the seventh since the boiler room went cold in the 1980s.
“We enter 2020 with a very strong pipeline of retail and leisure brands intending to make the Power Station their home, which we will announce over the course of the year as we begin counting down the days to the opening of this historic landmark in 2021,” BPSDC chief executive Simon Murphy said.
BPSDC head of retail leasing Sam Cotton said: “We have an unprecedented opportunity to create something truly special within the walls of Battersea Power Station.
“We are focused on partnering with successful brands from all corners of the world and ensuring a diverse mix is on offer that will satisfy the tastes of all our visitors and create a vibrant retail ecosystem.
“The eclectic mix of established and emerging names will take inspiration from the famous power station setting to create an unrivalled experience for all those who visit.
“The latest technologies, designs and innovations will be brought together and married with the history and heritage of this iconic building, to create something truly unique.”
The heritage-listed Battersea Power Station was decommissioned in 1983 after roughly 50 years of providing power to London.
While it has lain dormant and unused since then, the building is an iconic landmark along London’s riverside and has made appearances on the cover of Pink Floyd album Animals and in TV shows and films such as Doctor Who, Sherlock and and Batman: The Dark Knight.
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