Bankside Power Station
| Bankside Power Station | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| location | |||
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| Coordinates | 51 ° 30 '28 " N , 0 ° 5' 58" W | ||
| country |
 United Kingdom
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| Waters | Thames | ||
| Data | |||
| Type | Oil power plant | ||
| Primary energy | Fossil energy | ||
| fuel | oil | ||
| Project start | 1947 | ||
| Start of operations | 1952 | ||
| Shutdown | 1981 | ||
| Chimney height | 99 m | ||
The Bankside Power Station was an oil-fired power station in London that operated from 1952 to 1981. It is one of the largest brick buildings in England and is located on the south bank of the Thames near Southwark Bridge .
history
The power plant was commissioned after a power failure in 1947. The building was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott , the designer of Liverpool Cathedral , Battersea Power Station and the red telephone box . The building is 200 meters long, constructed from a steel frame and clad with bricks. The central chimney is 99 meters high. The height of the chimney was limited out of consideration for the spire of the nearby St Paul's Cathedral . Despite initial resistance, Scott accepted the design.
The construction work was carried out in two phases and was not completed until 1963. The western part of the building was finished first and went into operation in 1952. Over time, rising oil prices made the station uneconomical, which led to its closure in 1981. The building lay fallow and was eventually converted into a museum. The architects Herzog & de Meuron won the tender in 1995 and the Tate Gallery of Modern Art has been located there since 2000 .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b http://www2.tate.org.uk/archivejourneys/historyhtml/bld_mod_architecture.htm
- ↑ http://www.glias.org.uk/gliasepapers/bankside.html
literature
- The Bankside Power Station, Sir Giles Scott Explains . The Times , May 20, 1947.
- The Architects Journal. January 16, 1947.
- Stamp, G. and Harte, GB Temples of Power . Burford, Cygnet Press. 1979.
