Industrial Innovation

London is steeped in industrial history, from the anticipated public opening of Battersea Power Station from this Autumn, to the restoration of iconic buildings and landmarks, including royal residences and the infamous Big Ben clock tower.

According to Historic England, nearly £10bn is spent on the repair and maintenance of historic buildings in England each year.

Every building has its own completely unique identity, history and heritage, and London is a destination where old buildings seamlessly meet the new to curate an architectural blueprint like no other city.

These historical buildings are sensitively being restored across the capital with community, culture and commerce at their core, breathing a breath of fresh air into the way we live, work, eat and play.

An industrial deal breaker | Canada Water (www.canadawater.co.uk) is steeped in history and heritage as a former industrial heartland and progressive working dock – the gateway for Canadian timber throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The historic Grade II Listed ‘Dock Manager’s Office’, originally built in 1892, has been carefully and sensitively restored back to its former glory, by British Land, with renewed purpose as creative and flexible new office space.

Enlisting interior architects Conran and Partners, The Dock Manager’s Office unveils electrifying and colourful interiors to feature exposed rafters and the 120-year-old original brickwork teamed with modern interior architecture to showcase a spectacular triple height entrance, spacious gallery areas and glass walls to breathe natural light into its transformation.

Today, the destination is being transformed by British Land into a once in a lifetime sustainable regeneration project, transforming 53-acres into a reimagined sustainable town centre for 21st century living. The project will create 12 acres of new open space, including a 3.5-acre park, a new Town Square, the first new high street in London for 100 years and 16 new streets.

Trading luxuries | A backdrop to many Charles Dickens novels, London Dock was a trading gateway for many luxury goods of the 17th Century - such as spices, wine, tobacco - sourced from ‘New Worlds’.

London Dock was the creation and engineering mastermind of John Rennie the Elder – also famed for having designed many bridges, canals, docks and warehouses, and pioneer in the use of structural cast-iron.

Originally built in 1804, the 300 metre Pennington Street Warehouse stored luxury and imported goods London Dock (www.londondock.co.uk) was a bustling trading hub of commerce and life. Today, the historic Grade II Listed building is being sensitively restored by St George (part of the Berkeley Group) and Pennington Street Warehouse offers a modern, collaborative office space, creating some of the most unique office accommodation currently available in the city. Brought to life by exposed brick walls and archways, light-flooded spaces, and high ceilings, Pennington Street Warehouse’s vibrant history can still be seen in the exposed brick and numerous arches that feature throughout the building, offering a subtle nod to the warehouse’s former life.

Powering up community | Battersea Power Station (www.batterseapowerstation.co.uk) has withstood a World War, powered one fifth of London’s electricity at its peak, and has now been respectfully restored and removed from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register after 30 years.

Opening to the public from this Autumn, the London landmark has been sensitively restored by esteemed architecture practice, WilkinsonEyre. The pioneer for the emerging concept of the 15-minute neighbourhood, the Power Station itself comprised an eclectic mix 254 apartments, with prices starting from £865,000, more than 100 shops, bars, restaurants and offices.