5th February 2024

Battersea Power Station is the only UK destination to feature on the culture list. (Credit: High Level Photography)

Battersea Power Station has been named as one of the 20 “Best Cultural Spots” around the globe for exciting, meaningful, and one-of-a-kind travel experiences in National Geographic’s BEST OF THE WORLD 2024 series.

The annual BEST OF THE WORLD list is created, researched, reported and written in collaboration with National Geographic’s international editorial teams, which serve millions of readers through their magazines and websites around the world.

The only UK destination to feature on the culture list, Battersea Power Station, the iconic former coal-fired Power Station in Central London, has been restored and transformed into a mixed-use destination by a consortium of companies comprising Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), Sime Darby Property, S P Setia and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

Opened in October 2022, nearly forty years after it was decommissioned, over 11.2 million people visited Battersea Power Station in 2023 to explore the landmark’s unique historic interiors. (Credit: Charlie Round-Turner)

Opened in October 2022, nearly forty years after it was decommissioned, over 11.2 million people visited Battersea Power Station in 2023 to explore the landmark’s unique historic interiors and enjoy over 140 shops, restaurants, cafes and leisure experiences that are now open across the riverside neighbourhood. Highlights include Lift 109, the Power Station’s unique chimney lift experience, which ascended the building’s north west chimney 21,500 times in 2023, offering visitors a spectacular 360 degree view of the London skyline.

The Grade II* listed Power Station is also home to 565,000 sq ft of office space, including Apple’s new 500,000 sq ft UK headquarters, and 254 apartments. The iconic landmark sits at the heart of a new 42-acre riverside neighbourhood, which once complete will have created over 4,000 new homes, 3.5 million sq ft of mixed commercial space, 19 acres of public realm and 20,000 jobs.

Battersea Power Station is currently hosting its annual Light Festival until 25 February 2024, with seven spectacular pieces of artwork from British and international artists lighting up the neighbourhood (Credit: Backdrop Productions)

As part of the masterplan, a new extension to the London Underground’s Northern Line opened in September 2021 providing Battersea Power Station with its own Zone 1 tube station bringing the neighbourhood within 15 minutes of the West End and the City.

Tan Sri Jagan Sabapathy, Chairman of Battersea Project Holding Company, said:
“In restoring Battersea Power Station, our hope was always to create a world-class destination that brought this iconic landmark into public use for the first time in history, to be enjoyed by the local community, Londoners, and visitors from around the globe. To have received recognition by National Geographic in their ‘Best of the World’ list, and to witness our vision become a reality, is a source of enormous pride for the shareholders and all who have been involved in delivering this special project. We look forward to welcoming millions more visitors to Battersea Power Station in 2024 and beyond, as the neighbourhood continues to grow with new experiences, store openings and events for all to look forward to.”

In their round-up, National Geographic describes Battersea Power Station as: “From the 1930s until the 1980s, this hulking brick coal plant provided up to a fifth of London’s power […] the smokestack-capped, 1.5 million-square-foot building is now a stylish shopping, dining, and entertainment hub. Repurposed elements include Control Room B, a cocktail bar amid the dials and synchroscopes of a onetime command post, and Lift 109, a glassed-in viewpoint atop one of Battersea’s iconic 357-foot-tall smokestacks. Visitors can stay onsite at the art’otel with its rooftop pool and art gallery.”

As part of its popular annual events programme, Battersea Power Station is currently hosting its annual Light Festival until 25^th February 2024, with seven spectacular pieces of artwork from British and international artists lighting up the neighbourhood. As part of the festival, Battersea Power Station has partnered with Malaysia Airlines and The Danna Langkawi for the chance to win a fantastic holiday to Langkawi for four people.

Looking further ahead into 2024, further retail, leisure, food and beverage brands will open at the riverside neighbourhood including Mexican restaurant, El Pastor, So.Shell Nail & Brow Bar, the latest luxury health club from Third Space, LIPS Pharmacy and LIPS Healthcare Clinic and Diagnostic Centre. Battersea Power Station has also been announced as the official London fan zone for the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, building on The Battersea Games which launched in summer 2023.

Travelling to Battersea Power Station couldn’t be easier with the Zone 1 Battersea Power Station Underground station bringing the riverside neighbourhood within 15 minutes of the West End and the City. Battersea Power Station also has its very own Uber Boat by Thames Clippers pier and is a 15-minute journey from Embankment, 20 minutes from Blackfriars, 30 minutes from Putney and 40 minutes from Canary Wharf. The riverside neighbourhood is easily accessible by bus, bike, car and train too.

The BEST OF THE WORLD 2024 travel guide is available online now at NatGeo.com/BestOfTheWorld, where readers will be transported to each destination through spectacular photography and reporting.

For more information about Battersea Power Station please visit www.batterseapowerstation.co.uk and follow @BatterseaPwrStn to keep up to date with the latest news and events

-END OF PRESS RELEASE-

For media enquiries, please contact:
Battersea Power Station Development Company
T: +44 (0) 20 7062 1870
E: pressoffice@bpsdc.co.uk

About Battersea Power Station
Following an ambitious eight-year restoration, Battersea Power Station opened to the public for the first time in history on 14th October 2022. The iconic landmark and surrounding area has been transformed into London's most exciting new mixed-use neighbourhood a place for the local community, Londoners and visitors from further afield to shop, eat, drink, live, work and play.

Forty years after the Power Station was decommissioned, the Grade II* listed building is now home to over 100 shops, bars, restaurants, 254 apartments, offices, leisure and entertainment venues including Lift 109, a unique glass elevator experience inside the building’s north west chimney, The Cinema in The Power Station and Bounce Ping Pong.

Visitors to Battersea Power Station will find a mix of premium, high street and small independent brands such as ME+EM, A.P.C, ZARA, Hackett, Jigsaw, Levi's, Aesop, Uniqlo, the Battersea Bookshop, and Curated Makers. The riverside neighbourhood also offers a variety of dining options at over 30 cafes, bars and restaurants including the newly opened 24,000 sq ft Arcade Food Hall, which hosts 13 world cuisines on its menu.

The restoration of Battersea Power Station is the centrepiece of an ambitious regeneration programme that spans across 42 acres on a 450m stretch of the River Thames. When completed, this highly anticipated and innovative project will have created more than 20,000 new jobs, over 4,000 new homes, a new NHS medical facility and 19 acres of public space.
Additionally, with its own Uber Boat by Thames Clippers river bus pier and the new Zone 1 Battersea Power Station Underground station on the Northern Line, this central London destination is now easily accessible for all to enjoy.

For more information, please visit www.batterseapowerstation.co.uk and follow @BatterseaPwrStn to keep up with the latest news and events.

Download:
English