The Lots Road Power Station is the last of the city’s three power stations to be redeveloped as it stirs back into life as ‘Powerhouse’ – the centrepiece of the Chelsea Waterfront development.

Completed in 1904 and situated on the banks of the Thames in Chelsea, the Lots Road PowerStation provided power to the London Underground for almost a century before it closed. It has now become the last of the city’s three power stations to be redeveloped as it stirs back into life as ‘Powerhouse’ – the centrepiece of the Chelsea Waterfront development.
The iconic envelope of the original PowerStation has been fully restored and repaired to house 260 unique residential addresses orientated around a new central atrium containing water features, planting, and sculptural artwork. The original PowerStation afforded large cathedral like windows to the great turbine hall of the atrium and so even whilst working with the historic fabric the new apartments are allowed to be generously proportioned and filled with natural light.
Within this refurbishment envelope, new construction has brought the building up to date with new bronze coloured curtain walling infilling the original openings whilst the historic fabric has been fully restored and relined to ensure comfortable modern living in historic surroundings.
Alongside the residential the perimeter of the ground floor consists of a range of uses including new commercial space, community facilities and a riverfront restaurant, and at its core sits the atrium. The publicly accessible atrium space provides a central focus to the scheme with integrated landscaping, water features and a hanging sculptural light suspended from the roof of the atrium.
The interiors of Powerhouse play an equally important role in preserving the building’s history and architecture. Apartments have been crafted with a material palette that subtly references the proud industrial heritage of the original PowerStation and generously designed to allow for spacious and elegant interiors that lead onto balconies and terraces with view out towards the River Thames

“It’s exciting to see this extraordinary project coming to life. There is no residential experience like it in London, and the team needed to take an incredibly creative, thoughtful design approach to ensure that Powerhouse would do justice to the majestic architecture of the old power station. We carefully restored its historic red brick walls, and our priority was to honour the building’s rich industrial heritage while also delivering a new contemporary landmark for many generations to come.”
- Alec Backhouse (Associate at Farrells)