| Summary : The Wapping Hydraulic Power Station was built in 1889-93 by the London Hydraulic Power Company and was once part of an extensive hydraulic network, one of five stations delivering water along high-pressure pipes to silently power everything from dock gates, department store lifts, and theatre curtains. The building is constructed from red brick with slated and glazed roofs and is of one-storey with two accummulator towers. The site was possibly designed by E B Ellington the company engineer. When opened, the pumping station was steam driven with coal, delivered to the adjacent Shadwell Basin, used to fire six steam boilers and their pumping engines. In 1923 two electric turbine pumps were added and in the 1950s the whole station was modernised and converted to electricity. With the advancement of cheaper electricity and more sophisticated electronically powered equipment, the demand for hydraulic power began to decline. In the 1970s the London Hydraulic Power Company's stations gradually closed until only one remained at Wapping. When it too closed in 1977 it was the last of its kind, not only in London, but also the world.Today the power station has been transformed in to The Wapping Project, a new centre for the arts created by the Womens Playhouse Trust. Opened in 2000, the building has been turned into a multipurpose exhibition and performance space, conceived and designed by the architectural and design practice, Shed 54. The result is an unusual combination of gallery/performance space and restauarnt, all set within the original machinery and structure of the building. |