In our last blog we were discussing the landmark that is Tate Modern which can be viewed on many of our London walks that make their way along the south bank of the river Thames.
We explained how it is housed in the former Bankside Power Station which had to close its doors in 1981, when the price of oil became so expensive that keeping this fuel powered power station open just wasn’t economically viable. But, what could they do with it?
In 1994 the trustees of the Tate Gallery acquired the building and an international architectural competition was held for a design that would transform Sir Giles, Gilbert Scott’s industrial cathedral into Tate Britain’s new museum of modern Art.
There were over 70 entrants but the winner was the young Swiss practice of Herzog and de Meuron reputedly their design was favoured because it was the only one of all the designs that advocated working with the existing structure of the building. Other entries, so it is claimed, plans to scoop out the entire interior and start again from scratch.
The most obvious external change - and one that is truly apparent to participants on a London walks, as they cross the Millennium Bridge - that the architects made to the building was the addition of a two-storey glass light beam that spans the entire length of the roof and provides natural light for the galleries not to mention spectacular views across the River Thames towards St Pauls Cathedral.
With the building completed in 2000 Queen Elizabeth II came to the south side of the River Thames and opened Bankside Power Station for the second time.
So why not book your group onto one of our Shakespeare or Dickens, London walks and See for yourself was stunning landmark is truly vast building is?
Tags: Herzog and De Meuron, London walks, Queen Elizabeth 11, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, St Paul's Cathedral, Tate Modern Bankside Power Station
