Opening today (Friday 14th October 2022), the hugely anticipated Battersea Power Station development has finally been unveiled fully to the public. Inside each of its four iconic chimney towers is a virtuoso display of light and glass.
Commissioned to design a lighting installation for the interiors of the Battersea Power Station brick towers, Jonathan Coles found inspiration in the shallow green bowl-like forms of powerline insulators.
“The brief was very open. We were asked to reference power generation – using the dials, gauges, cables and powerlines as a starting point. I liked the idea of repurposing a form or material that would never normally make its way into a decorative setting,” Jonathan says.
Assembled in spines of three discs, the cumulative effect of the stacked recycled glass heightens the intensity of the green colouration. Two hundred of the lights have been hung at various heights in each of the 30-metre towers. The sense of dynamism of the installation is startling, and set against the bare brick and concrete of the towers, it illustrates the unexpected beauty found at the heart of industry. A mesmerising feast of voltage, the lights evoke a flow of energy spiralling upwards through the void of the towers.
Whilst all chandeliers can be viewed from the ground, the 15-square-metre glass lift in the power station’s northwest chimney brings guests a new vantage point as they scale the towers alongside the chandeliers, ending their journey 109 metres above the ground with a panoramic view of London.
Following the Battersea Power Station commission Jonathan Coles Lighting just launched the Ampere Collection of lights at Design London 2022, available at All Square Lighting.
Image courtesy of Jonathan Coles Lighting.
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March 2023 issue
2022 A1 Buyers Guide
