Project Overview
Battersea Power Station has been a London landmark for almost a century. The most famous part of the development, Battersea A, with its turbine hall and four massive chimneys, has stood since it was completed in 1935.
The Grade II Listed status of the entire building, close to the south bank of the Thames and visible for miles around, meant any redevelopment had to retain the chimneys and the exterior of the turbine hall.
When work began, on a new version of the site opened to the public in 2022, Sentinel was invited to install the soffit system within the power station.
The redevelopment of Battersea Power Station was one of the most substantial and high-profile projects to take place in the capital in recent decades.
This is a new residential and business quarter for this corner of south London with homes, shops, bars, cafes, offices and more than 19 acres of public space. The area is connected to the rest of the capital by a new station on London Underground’s Northern Line.
Project Brief
We were commissioned to work on Phase 3A, featuring two 17-level apartment buildings by the acclaimed Gehry Partners.
Sentinel’s extensive expertise in passive fire protection meant we were up to the task of delivering our contribution to this phase of the project.
Our job was to install high-impact soffit boards in multiple areas of the project. That work helped to deliver a new version of Battersea Power Station that retained its sense of scale and visual drama.
We are confident that Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the renowned architect and industrial designer of the 1930s, would wholeheartedly approve of a transformation of this iconic site. By preserving its defining features, under the visionary expertise of Gehry Partners, we’ve raised the bar for architectural prestige.
Challenges / Solution
Sentinel’s experience in delivering built-in fire protection solutions from the industry’s leading practitioners paid substantial dividends in our work at Battersea Power Station.
Our visual inspection looked at the fixing spacing, drop rod install/services, board flush fitting and surface level install. The products we used were designed primarily for firestopping functions, but our expert teams managed to deliver a top-quality finish.
As Aaron Gardiner, now national specification manager for Nullifire, said: “In my opinion the install was exemplary – and for a product that is not designed to be a decorative finish.
“With the calcium silicate board there will always be a variation in colour. This is unavoidable due to the manufacturing process. Sentinel installed the boards in a manner where the colour variation was sympathetically
installed to create an aesthetic finish.
“There is usually a 5mm variance in the height of the boards due to the nature of a concrete slab and the compression of the boards when fixed. On such a large span of soffit, the fact that Sentinel installed the system to
such a small level of variance was impressive – along with the alignment of the boards.”
The Result
The expertise that has made Sentinel London’s favourite fire protection subcontractor enabled us to install the soffit system at Battersea Power Station Phase 3A to an extremely high standard.
Our superior attention to detail ensured that Nullifire was able to achieve its vision – and we are delighted to report that our client rated our soffit installation here as one of the highest standards they had ever seen.
A Sentinel team packed with firestopping know-how ensured that the spacing of fixing adhered to Nullifire’s methodology, while remaining aesthetically consistent with the overall project vision.
Aaron Gardiner added: “The overall quality of installation was extremely high in a challenging environment. The final fit and finish from the inspection was beyond satisfactory.
We were pleased to see the new Battersea Power Station
collect a host of prestigious awards:
This is a famous building in the heart of St James’s that was in the process of being totally redeveloped. Our painting and fireproofing solutions played a healthy part in the successful completion of the project.
The redevelopment of Battersea Power Station was one of the biggest regeneration projects in London in recent decades. We were engaged to install the soffit system on a scheme that revitalised this London industrial icon.
Sentinel was proud to be invited by Kier to deliver commercial decorating works at GOSH Sight and Sound Centre, the first dedicated medical facility in the UK for children with sight and hearing loss.
Sentinel delivered an object lesson in high-quality commercial decorating and firestopping with its work for Kingston University on the multiple award-winning Town House.
One of the most effective forms of passive fire protection is Intumescent Paint. This specialised coating expands when exposed to heat, forming a thick, insulating layer that shields structural elements from the intense heat of a fire.
Sentinel Contracting Plc continues to set the standard in fire protection and commercial decorating, demonstrating our eco expertise through two significant projects.
Sentinel Contracting plc
Unit 2a Guildprime Business Centre, Southend Road Billericay, Essex CM11 2PZ
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