Frank Gehry to design flats for Battersea Power Station

The 39-acre Battersea Power Station site sits on the south side of the Thames

World-renowned architect Frank Gehry is to design residential buildings as part of the £8bn redevelopment of London's Battersea Power Station.

Gehry Partners will work with Foster and Partners on the 'High Street' phase of the development, a retail pedestrian street that will link the site to the proposed new Northern Line extension.

Sir Norman Foster's company will design the residential buildings to the west.

Gehry's firm will design the buildings to the east - his first in London.

Together the companies will design 1,200 apartments, a 200-room hotel and 350,000 sq ft of retail and restaurant space.

"Gehry Partners is honoured to have this wonderful opportunity to collaborate with our respected colleagues Foster and Partners on this seriously important project for the city of London," said Gehry, 84.

Norman Foster and Frank Gehry are among the world's foremost architects

"Our goal is to help create a neighbourhood and a place for people to live that respects the iconic Battersea Power Station while connecting it into the broader fabric of the city."

Gehry is best known for such eye-catching edifices as the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris.

Yet his only construction in London to date was the temporary summer pavilion he designed for the Serpentine Gallery in 2008.

Lord Foster, 78, designed London's famous Gherkin tower, the new Wembley Stadium and the redeveloped Reichstag in Berlin.

Grant Brooker of Foster and Partners said the company was "absolutely delighted to be chosen to be part of this inspiring regeneration project".

Famed for its four brick chimneys, Battersea Power Station was decommissioned in 1983 and has been vacant for the last 30 years.

It is internationally famous for featuring on the cover of Pink Floyd's 1977 album Animals and has been used as a location in numerous films.