London Array substation doubles as art installation
Peta Hodge
17th March 2009
The design of a new onshore substation for the London Array – the largest consented offshore wind farm in Europe – has been given the go-ahead, and work is expected to start at the Cleve Hill site near Graveney in Kent later this year.
The design by international architectural practice RMJM was inspired by a line of beach huts nearby and features a series of ‘modular structures’, which create what the architects describe as "a 160 metre long and nine metre high rhythmic line of solids and voids."
It has a twin purpose: providing protection for the substation’s transformers, electrical switchgear and back-up electrical generators, as well as creating a sculptural focal point on the landscape.
RMJM’s modular structures will be raised on a 2.4 metre high concrete plinth that will act as a flood alleviation barrier and echo the seawall running alongside the Saxon Shore Way foopath nearby. RMJM’s intention is that the design will become an architectural landmark of the region.
RMJM director Matt Cartwright said: “We are delighted to be working on such a progressive, sustainable project that is dedicated to providing renewable energy to the UK, whilst respecting the local landscape and creating an architectural focal point for the area. Through close collaboration with London Array and the local planning authority, we created a design that fuses art, architecture and engineering.”
The London Array project, located some 12 miles off the Kent and Essex coasts in the outer Thames Estuary, will eventually generate 1,000MW of electricity. The wind farm’s power will be fed into the substation, which will connect to the National Grid and provide enough electricity for 750,000 homes – or all the homes in Kent and East Sussex.
When fully operational, the London Array is expected to generate around a tenth of the energy needed to meet the Government’s target of providing 10 per cent of the UK’s electricity from renewable sources by 2010.