The Optic Cloak

An “architectural intervention” by British artist Conrad Shawcross has arrived on the Greenwich Peninsula in south-east London, bringing a jagged 49-metre slice of perforated aluminium to London’s skyline. Designed in collaboration with the architectural practice CF Møller Architects, the 49-metre high by 20-metre wide building will house an energy centre providing hot water and heating for 15,000 homes. The eye-catching metallic chimney flue covered in aluminium cladding is sited in Europe’s largest-single urban regeneration area covering 160 acres. The external structure of The Optic Cloak will be completed this week but the actual energy station will not be up-and-running until later this Autumn. The low carbon energy centre means the homes and buildings under development will not be fitted with individual boilers.