First look at new plans to restore Crystal Palace exhibition centre to its former glory

 
Artist's impression: Crystal Palace envisaged in new plans to restore it to its former glory
Pippa Crerar3 October 2013

This is the historic glass and steel Crystal Palace exhibition centre brought back to life as a £500 million modern-day cultural attraction.

Chinese developers plan to create a replica of what was once the largest glass structure in the world on its original site in South East London.

The new building will be the same size and scale as its gigantic Victorian predecessor originally designed by Sir Joseph Paxton for the 1851 Great Exhibition.

Plans by Shanghai-based ZhongRong group, with engineers Arup, include the full restoration of the 180-acre Crystal Palace park with new landscaping and a central tree-lined boulevard.

The original listed Italian terraces and sculptures will be fully restored, along with other Victorian heritage including the unique underpass, dinosaur models and maze. There will also be a new café, visitor centre and restored concert bowl.

The new Crystal Palace will be used for cultural events – concerts, exhibitions and screenings – as well as for conferences and conventions.

While there are no plans to build any homes on the site the plans include a hotel, conference facilities and other commercial space, so are likely to run into fierce opposition from local campaigners who want to protect their green space.

Destroyed: Crystal Palace ravaged by fire in 1936

The national sports and athletics centre and iconic television mast will remain.

Billionaire developer Ni Zhaoxing told the Standard: “The Crystal Palace is celebrated in China as a building of great achievement. My vision is to rebuild it in a way that is faithful to the original building in all its ingenuity, scale and magnificence. I want it to become a new cultural asset for London and a new destination for visitors from around the world.

“Today is just the start. I want to hear what local people think. Their views are important to me. A lot of hard work lies ahead but I am excited by the opportunity to shape the next chapter of this special building.”

The original Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and plate-glass building erected in Hyde Park to house the Great Exhibition of 1851.

More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the 990,000 square feet of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology of the age.

Sir Joseph Paxton’s huge building astonished visitors with its unprecedented use of large sheets of glass on the walls and ceilings.

After the exhibition the Crystal Palace was rebuilt in South London where it stood from 1854 as a testament to the Industrial Revolution until destroyed by fire in 1936.

The 1854 building was built to a Beaux-Arts design in glass and metal and was significantly different from - and larger than - its predecessor. It housed a school of art, science and literature and hosted concerts, exhibits and public entertainment.

A year-long consultation by Bromley Council will take place before work begins in winter 2015. Boris Johnson will chair an advisory board for the project, which is expected to create more than 2000 jobs.

Green Assembly member Darren Johnson said: “While I’m sure many people would love to see the Crystal Palace raised from the ashes, this precious parkland isn’t the right place for it. “When the palace was moved there in the 1850s the newly laid out park was near countryside, but today it’s an urban park with a lot of space already taken up.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in