The Dimco Buildings are a pair of 19th-centry structures in
White City, London, just north of
Shepherd's Bush
Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
Although primarily residential in character, i ...
. Originally built in 1898 as an electric railway
power station, they are now in use as a
bus station.
History
The Dimco Buildings were constructed in 1898 to house an engine house and boiler house for the Wood Lane electricity generating station serving the
Wood Lane depot of the
Central London Railway (CLR), the precursor of present-day
Central line on the
London Underground network. The architect was
Harry Bell Measures
Harry Bell Measures (1862–1940) was an English architect.
Career
He had a varied career. In 1884 to 1892 he was in-house architect for William Willett, producing high-quality housing for the wealthy in London and South East England; these were ...
, who was also responsible for a number of station buildings on the original CLR.
The power station closed on 18 March 1928 when power for the line began to be supplied from
Lots Road Power Station.
After closure, the buildings were taken over by Dimco, an Italian machine tools company.
After falling derelict for a number of years, the Dimco Buildings were refurbished in 2007-8 and now house the
White City bus station
White City bus station serves the White City area of west London and Westfield London shopping centre.
The bus station was opened on 29 November 2008 to serve the new Westfield London shopping centre. The station has been built around the Grade ...
, located next to the
Westfield London
Westfield London is a large shopping centre in White City, west London, England, developed by the Westfield Group at a cost of £1.6bn,
on a brownfield site formerly the home of the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition. The site is bounded by the We ...
shopping centre, one of the largest in Europe.
[
Since 1988, the Dimco Buildings have been ]Grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
for their historic significance as the earliest surviving example of an electricity generating station built for the London Underground.[
]
In popular culture
The Dimco buildings were used as a filming location
A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage. In filmmaking, a location is any place where a film crew wil ...
for the Acme Factory in the 1988 film '' Who Framed Roger Rabbit'', and later served as the interior of the British Museum in '' The Mummy Returns'' (2001).
See also
*History of Shepherd's Bush
Shepherd's Bush is a neighbourhood in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham centred on Shepherd's Bush Green. Originally a pasture for shepherds on their way to Smithfield market, it was largely developed in the late nineteenth and early tw ...
References
External links
The Dimco Buildings - London Architecture
{{Coord, 51.5087, -0.2231, type:landmark_region:GB-HMF, display=title
Coal-fired power stations in England
Former power stations in London
Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
White City, London
Transport design in London
History of the London Underground