One of the first questions I got after moving to South London recently was, "Have you been to Battersea Power Station?" After getting sick of saying no, this iconic building I knew nothing about started to pique my interest so one Tuesday morning, I decided to head over and see what all the fuss was about.
I had no idea what to expect when I made my way inside. Very quickly, it soon became apparent that Battersea Power Station is simply a fancy shopping centre. This disappointed me, as I was expecting, well, more. Despite the fact that it's literally advertised as such, with the buzz you'd think there'd be more to it.
The station is made up of two turbine halls, with a central entrance section. The walls are all painted black, pairing with silver railings and escalators to create a vibe that could be considered steam-punk, but instead I found it quite oppressive.
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Wandering around without any particular shop or goal in mind, I quickly realised that the majority of the stores in Battersea Power Station were also well outside my budget. I passed several car salesrooms, Ralph Lauren, GANT, Lacoste and Mulberry and started to feel rather underdressed.
On the first floor is a Pret and a Starbucks, and on the upper floors are several restaurants, many of which looked very fancy. The Arcade food hall looked interesting, but I decided I'd come back to explore that as after thirty minutes in the building, I was feeling so claustrophobic I wanted to scream.
This feeling only got worse when trying to find the exit. This shopping centre felt like a maze trying to trap me inside and I was hugely relieved to finally get outside and breathe in some fresh air again.
However, after a few days I thought I'd judged the shopping centre a bit harshly and decided to go back to give it another go. This was largely driven by desperately needing some new shoes, so I planned a trip to Office on a Sunday afternoon to see if it might be better once I knew what to expect and had a bit more of a plan.
Sadly, a second trip didn't improve my opinion of Battersea Power Station. The one good thing I noticed is that the shopping centre itself doesn't feel too busy, even on a warm and sunny weekend afternoon and full of people.
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But the shops themselves still felt full, and I rushed through trying on a couple of pairs of trainers. The dark walls and high ceilings pressed in on me again and I decided to try the Arcade for some food, but the queues were very long to even get inside, so I decided not to bother and attempted to leave again.
I ended up leaving through the wrong exit and came out at a large green area overlooking the river - and this was the nicest bit of the shopping centre I'd found so far. There was a large TV screen showing the women's cricket, with rows of deckchairs set out in front. Various activities and sports were on offer, and several bars were open.
In the end, I've had to come to terms with the fact I just don't like this shopping centre. The dark paint and the sense of being trapped in a maze are just not what I want when I go shopping, so I'll stick to that well-known small and calm shopping centre, Westfield.
Got a story for us? Email anna.willis@reachplc.com.
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