Europe’s biggest brick building has 254 apartments, as well as restaurants, bars, offices and shops
A pair of peregrine falcons are nesting in one of the distinctive white chimneys rising from the vast edifice of the revamped Battersea power station, unperturbed by the construction work.
Ten years and several prime ministers after developers first broke ground at a ceremony attended by David Cameron, One of Europe’s biggest brick buildings is set to open to the public on 14 October, with 254 apartments, as well as restaurants, bars, offices and a glass elevator that takes passengers to an eyrie on top of the north-west chimney.
Interior of Turbine Hall A Photograph: Backdrop Productions
Immortalised on a Pink Floyd album cover that featured flying pigs, and on screen in The King’s Speech and Ian McKellen’s Richard III, the building is an enduring feature of the Thames skyline but until now its interior has been off limits to most visitors.
A free “festival of power” will celebrate its latest incarnation, bringing to an end a long period of speculation during which developers variously proposed turning the derelict site into a giant theme park or a stadium for Chelsea football club.
The north atrium retains some of the power station’s original features. Photograph: Backdrop Productions
For half a century, the power station burnt coal to generate as much as a fifth of London’s electricity, keeping the lights on in Buckingham Palace (codenamed Carnaby Street 2 in the control room) and the Houses of Parliament, before puffing its last plumes of smoke in 1983.
Now it is the centrepiece of a 42-acre site, nestled beside apartment blocks designed by the US architect Frank Gehry in his distinctive style with fragmented forms, and one large, bendy structure designed by Foster + Partners.
Close up of the famous towers Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian
The project is owned by a consortium of Malaysian investorsled by SP Setia and Sime Darby Property, which bought the site in 2012 for £400m after its owner had gone into receivership. They embarked on a £9bn revamp, divided into eight phases. About 1,600 of the planned 4,000 homes have been built so far.
The vast, cavernous spaces of the two turbine halls are now filled with restaurants and shops including Ralph Lauren, Mulberry and Reiss, as well as Uniqlo, Mango, Superdry and Swatch. A floor above Levi’s, the former control room B has been turned into a slick bar, which has the original stainless steel control panels and switch dials for managing the flow of electricity.
Control Room B is now a slick bar, which has the original control panels and switch dials. Photograph: Backdrop Productions
Apple will relocate more than 1,500 employees from offices around London to its new UK base inside the boiler house, across six floors. Its chief executive, Tim Cook, who had a private tour of the building last week, said: “Once a source of energy for much of London, the transformation this building has undergone honours London’s past and celebrates its future. We’re so glad to be a part of it.”
IWG, which operates the office rental brands Regus and Spaces, will welcome tenants on flexible lets from next April in the art deco-inspired Engine Room, with river views. It expects “high demand” from hybrid workers.
Luxury apartments line both flanks of the main building, above the shops, and 90% have been sold. They start at £865,000 for a studio, while the 18 sky villas – three- and four-bed penthouses with private terraces arranged around a communal roof garden on top of the building – cost up to £7m. With only a handful of the villas taken so far, the marketing of these pricier homes is still at full pelt.
The man in charge of bringing in the buyers is Simon Murphy, the chief executive of the Battersea Power Station Development Company, which was set up by the Malaysian consortium. “The ones that are left to sell are the bigger units, which always sell at the end,” he said. “In the past 18 months, we’ve sold over £600m of residential, largely to Brits.”
The first residents moved in during May 2021, and the new Battersea Power Station tube stop, which sits on a spur of the Northern Line, opened in September last year.
Turbine Hall B is filled with shops and restaurants. Photograph: Backdrop Productions
Turbine Hall B has original ceramic wall tiles and a rusty crane Photograph: Backdrop Productions
When the site is complete, it is expected to house 25,000 people and attract 25 million to 30 million of visitors every year.
It is a big bet during a cost of living crisis. “We continue to be confident,” said Murphy. “We’re not blind to the fact that the world is in a difficult space at the moment and has been for a long time.”
The Malaysian owners expect to receive £100m a year in commercial rent from the first three phases of the project.
Control Room A, which has art deco flourishes and a herringbone parquet floor. Photograph: James Parsons/Backdrop Productions
When architects WilkinsonEyre embarked on the redesign a decade ago, the power station had been reduced to a shell, without a roof. There was grass growing on the ground in the middle. Sebastien Ricard, the project director, said: “We were stunned by the scale of the building and wanted to retain it. We didn’t want to over-restore it.”
While the four chimneys had to be replaced, with reinforced concrete replicas, many of the original features of the power station were retained – including the two control rooms, one with art deco flourishes and herringbone parquet floor, the other in more brutalist, 1950s style, as well as ceramic wall tiles, exposed steel girders, remnants of staircases and the former directors’ entrance. Cranes have been incorporated into the design, with one holding a footbridge spanning Turbine Hall A.
Turbine Hall A, with giant art deco fluted pilasters. Photograph: Backdrop Productions
Critics point out that there is little affordable housing, and none inside the power station. Aside from the luxury pads, the developer has built a block of 386 affordable homes, some distance from the power station on the other side of the main road. They make up less than a tenth of the total planned for the site. They range from studios to one- and two-bedroom flats, a mix of social rent and shared ownership, and are managed by Britain’s biggest housing association, Peabody.
Not everyone is impressed. Keith Garner, an architect based in Battersea, said: “Forty years to create a shopping mall! Battersea power station should have taken its place alongside other great cultural institutions of London: British Museum, South Kensington museums, Tate Britain and Tate Modern.
“But to achieve that they would have needed a different business model, a more hybrid solution involving trust ownership that would have made it eligible for lottery funding alongside commercial tenants.”
Escalators in Turbine Hall B Photograph: Backdrop Productions
Instead, alongside the shops and offices, there will be a boxing gym, cinema and private members’ club, and a glass elevator dubbed Lift 109 for the height of the chimney it serves. Passengers are meant to stay inside once it reaches the top, looking at the view for a few minutes, before descending again.
However, when reporters were given a sneak preview, the lift rose and then shot straight back down (twice). Something to do with the wind, apparently. The developers will want to fix that before the grand opening.
The market is currently in a news-driven environment where the prices of cryptocurrencies have been determined by news agenda rather than fundamentals.
Bitfinex analysts have warned crypto investors to be cautious as bitcoin’s (BTC) recovery over the weekend is not a sign that its correction is over; the asset could witness more bloodshed in the near term.
In the latest Bitfinex Alpha report, experts deemed the market’s reaction this week critical, especially as supply alleviated over the weekend could return when traditional markets open.
“No Man’s Land”
Since Saturday, bitcoin has risen almost 10% from $57,600 to $63,000, closing last week in the green. The asset has surged above the 125-day range low of $60,200, which it broke through earlier this month after news of the German government’s massive BTC selling hit the market.
Market sentiment began to improve after reports that wallets linked to the German government were almost empty. However, the positive sentiment may not be sustained for long as the BTC the German authorities moved to trading desks and exchanges are yet to be sold.
While the supply from Germany appears to have been factored into bitcoin’s market price, Bitfinex analysts believe the end of selling pressure depends on how the involved trading desks execute their trades in the coming days.
Although the shift in sentiment underscores the market’s capacity to integrate new information and adjust expectations quickly, analysts think the market’s reaction over the first two trading days of the week cannot be overlooked for two reasons.
First, the low support level in the $60,200 range has now become a potential resistance line. Second, trading patterns over the past three months suggest that weekends are usually favorable for markets, especially on Saturdays when supply pressure seems to subside.
“We are now in no man’s land until we get clear resolution above or below this level,” the analysts said.
A News-Driven Environment
Besides the potential resistance level and three-month weekend trading pattern, the market is currently in a news-driven environment, where the prices of cryptocurrencies have been determined by news agendas rather than fundamentals.
Since selling pressure concerns are not yet completely obsolete due to upcoming Mt Gox creditor distributions, Bitfinex analysts expect such headlines to continue to have some impact on price movements. As such, the analysts urged investors to exercise caution in their trading strategies.
BlackRock’s IBIT led with $117.25 million in inflows on July 15, also being the most traded Bitcoin ETF.
The US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a daily net inflow of $301 million on July 15th. This extended their winning streak to seven consecutive days amidst a broader market recovery.
None of the ETFs recorded outflows for the day.
Bitcoin ETFs Rake in $16.11B in Net Inflows Since Jan
According to the data compiled by SoSoValue, BlackRock’s IBIT, the top spot Bitcoin ETF by net asset value, recorded the largest net inflows of the day at $117.25 million. IBIT was also the most actively traded Bitcoin ETF on Monday, with a volume of $1.24 billion. Ark Invest and 21Shares’ ARKB came in close behind with net inflows of $117.19 million.
Fidelity’s FBTC experienced net inflows of $36.15 million on Monday, while Bitwise’s BITB saw $15.24 million in inflows. VanEck’s HODL, Invesco and Galaxy Digital’s BTCO, and Franklin Templeton’s EZBC funds also recorded net inflows. Meanwhile, Grayscale’s GBTC and other ETFs, such as Valkyrie’s BRRR, WisdomTree’s BTCW, and Hashdex’s DEFI, registered no flows for the day.
A total of $2.26 billion was traded on Monday. The trading volume for these ETFs was less than in March when it exceeded $8 billion on some days. Meanwhile, these funds have collectively attracted $16.11 billion in net inflow since their January launch.
What’s Next For Bitcoin?
Earlier this month, bitcoin’s price decline was mainly due to fears of massive selling pressure from Mt. Gox and the German government’s BTC sales.
But the assassination attempt on pro-crypto former US President and presumptive Republican candidate Donald Trump at Saturday’s rally seemed to spark a recovery in the world’s largest digital asset, and experts are bullish on the asset’s price trajectory going forward. Bitcoin surged more than 9% over the past week and was currently trading slightly below $64,000.
Veteran trader Peter Brandt discussed bitcoin’s price outlook, suggesting a potential major rally. He referred to a pattern he terms “Hump->Slump->Bump->Dump->Pump” and highlighted that the July 5 double top attempt was a bear trap, confirmed by the July 13 close. He sees a likely continued upward trend but warned that a close below $56,000 would negate this bullish view.
“Bitcoin $BTC could be unfolding its often-repeated Hump…Slump…Bump…Dump…Pump chart construction. Jul 5 attempt at the double top was a bear trap, confirmed by Jul 13 close. Most likely scenario now is that bears are trapped. Close below $56k negates this interpretation”
PeckShield alert reveals LI.FI’s protocol vulnerability is similar to a March 2022 attack, with the same bug recurring.
The decentralized finance (DeFi) platform LI.FI protocol has suffered an exploit amounting to over $8 million.
Cyvers Alerts reported detecting suspicious transactions within the LI.FI cross-chain transaction aggregator.
LI.FI Issues Warning After $8 Million Exploit
LI.FI confirmed the breach in a statement on July 16 via X: “Please do not interact with any http://LI.FI powered applications for now! We’re investigating a potential exploit.” The team clarified that users who did not set infinite approval are not at risk, emphasizing that only those who manually set infinite approvals seem to be affected.
According to Cyvers Alerts, more than $8 million in user funds have been stolen, with the majority being stablecoins. According to on-chain data, the hacker’s wallet holds 1,715 Ether (ETH) valued at $5.8 million and USDC, USDT, and DAI stablecoins.
Cyvers Alerts advised users to revoke relevant authorizations immediately, noting that the attacker is actively converting USDC and USDT into ETH.
Crypto security firm Decurity provided insights into the exploit, stating that it involves the LI.FI bridge. “The root cause is a possibility of an arbitrary call with user-controlled data via depositToGasZipERC20() in GasZipFacet, which was deployed 5 days ago,” Decurity explained on X.
“In general, the risks behind routers, cross-chain swaps, etc. are about token approvals. Raw native assets like (unwrapped) ETH are safe from these kinds of hacks b/c they don’t have approvals as an option. Most users & wallets also no longer do “infinite approvals” which gives a smart contract total control on removing any amount of their tokens. It’s important to understand which tokens you’re approving to which contracts.
This dashboard looks for all transactions of a user that intersects Lifi. Not all of these transactions indicate risk- but you can see how, broadly, integrations & layers of tech (like how Metamask bridge uses Lifi on BSC) can complicate how users do or don’t put their assets at risk. Revoke Cash is the most well known approval manager app.
But it’s also good security practice to simply rotate your address. New addresses start with 0 approvals, so starting fresh by moving your tokens to a fresh address is another good security practice.” – commented Carlos Mercado, Data Scientist at Flipside Crypto.
Recent Exploit Mirrors March 2022 Attack
Further analysis by PeckShield alert revealed that the vulnerability is similar to a previous attack on LI.FI’s protocol that occurred on March 20, 2022. That incident saw a bad actor exploit LI.FI’s smart contract, specifically the swapping feature, before bridging.
The attacker manipulated the system to call token contracts directly within their contract’s context, making users who had given infinite approval vulnerable. This exploit resulted in the theft of approximately 205 ETH from 29 wallets, affecting tokens such as USDC, MATIC, RPL, GNO, USDT, MVI, AUDIO, AAVE, JRT, and DAI.
“The bug is basically the same. Are we learning anything from the past lesson(s)?” PeckShield Alert said in a July 16 X post.
Following the 2022 incident, LI.FI disabled all swap methods in its smart contract and worked on developing a fix to prevent future vulnerabilities. However, the recurrence of a similar exploit raises concerns about the platform’s security measures and whether adequate steps were taken to address the vulnerabilities identified in the previous breach.
LI.FI is a liquidity aggregation protocol that allows users to trade across various blockchains, venues, and bridges.
