Control Room B, Battersea Power Station London
The iconic Control Room B, Battersea Power Station, has been transformed into a spectacular new bar venue at the very heart of the newly refurbished multi-billion pound Power Station re-development. Battersea Power Station is a Grade II* listed, global architectural icon and one of London’s most recognisable landmarks.
Control Room B originally helped manage the distribution of a fifth of London’s electricity, supplying power to some of London’s most recognisable landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace.
The spectacular new venue comprises 3,500sqft and is set amongst the panels of historic dials and switches of the original Control Room.
The central bar comprises a dramatic turbine-inspired sculptural piece, which pays homage to the industrial heritage of the Power Station. The design of the venue has been carefully calibrated by Ellis Design Studio to ensure it both complements and showcases the dramatic surrounding features of this landmark, historic space.
The venue has been designed to create a beautifully atmospheric, conceptual space, which fuses the utilitarian beauty of the Control Rooms Brutalist aesthetic with the joy and optimism of post war, mid-century British design.
Project Introduction
Our award winning studio team was asked to create the interior design for Control Room B, London’s newest all-day bar experience.
Iconic Invention
Control Room B boasts an austere Modernist style from the post-war period.
The walls and octagonal columns showcase original faience tiles in delicate pale blue. The result is a captivating contrast with the ruggedly beautiful aesthetics of the control panels.
The original Control Room fittings and switchgear complex serve as defining features of the space. They have undergone a complete restoration as part of the Power Station’s regeneration. (These iconic features have even graced famous movie scenes and album covers including the Beatles ‘Help’ and Hawkweed’s ‘Quark’ album).
Designing for such a historically significant part of the Power Station required meticulous attention to both aesthetic and technical considerations. The design scheme is entirely freestanding. We carefully calibrated it to harmonise with the existing architecture while ensuring that it feels rooted in the space as a hospitality venue.
An iconic bar
Ellis Design Studio is a leader in design and build of London’s most iconic bars.
Our interior design for Control Room B includes a remarkable, turbine-inspired centrepiece bar that pays homage to Battersea Power Station’s electric history. An illuminated radial metal canopy adorned with delicately perforated metal fins adds a sense of dynamism and movement.
Design scheme
The utilitarian aesthetic of Control Room B heavily influenced our material choices. We pay tribute to brutalist machine-age aesthetic, utilising aged brass, blackened and lacquered steels, and various patinated and pleated metals. These materials contrast beautifully with the warm-hued custom laser-printed timbers. Our furniture and upholstery selections draw inspiration from mid-century patterns and pastel-hued palettes. These provide a softer counterpoint to the coolness of the original metal and tiles within the space.
With its meticulously crafted design, this space is a tribute to the dawn of the modern age. It seamlessly blends the vibrancy of British mid-century and Brutalist beauty and the dynamism and energy of mechanical forms.
