NW
I was reading an article in the Media Guardian about the new Broadcasting House Project.
You can find it here
You can find it here
Quote:
People in smoked glass houses
The £649m redevelopment of Broadcasting House is halfway to completion. So how does it look so far and will it be finished on time and on budget? New research shows that defamation cases are at twice the level of a decade ago. Should journalists be concerned?
Tara Conlan
Monday September 26, 2005
The Guardian
The fortunes of Broadcasting House often appear to mirror those of the BBC. As the David Kelly affair turned from controversy to tragedy in 2003, the hoardings went up at BH. Heads rolled, the corporation recoiled from government attacks and the BBC's famous central London headquarters retreated from public view.
Now the landscape is different. The licence fee is safe, the BBC has bounced back and a sleek new BH is emerging, primed and polished for the digital future. However, it has not all been plain sailing. This summer the National Audit Office criticised the corporation for "misunderstanding" how much it would profit from its new White City complex. That led to the scrapping of the BBC's planned 30-year outsourcing deal with property giant Land Securities Trillium. There were also headlines in May after it emerged that its £649m redevelopment of BH is about 11 months behind schedule and is £7m over budget because of changes to the original plans.
The project, called West One, is designed to house all the BBC's national radio staff, plus those of the World Service from Bush House, TV news staff, and the radio news division, which was moved amid much disgruntlement (much of it from the exiled Today programme) in 1998 to Television Centre in Shepherd's Bush. It is the biggest and most complicated construction project the BBC has undertaken. Eventually, 4,500 employees will work there.
The first phase involved demolishing and rebuilding parts of Val Myer's iconic 1932 building, which is Grade 2* listed, and refurbishing the rest. Two adjacent buildings, Egton House, and Radio 1's home at 16 Langham Street, were also knocked down. They are being replaced by what will now be known as the east wing of BH - mostly housing news operations.
To further complicate matters, the BBC decided at the last minute to spend £13m on Western House - another nearby building that houses Radio 2 and 6 Music. Previously the plan was just to refurbish part of it, but it proved more cost-effective to re-fit it entirely. However the result was other building work was put back and the cost of the whole project went up.
This has had a knock-on effect on phase two. Due to start in 2006, it involves knocking down an ugly modern block that backs on to Duchess Street. It will be replaced by a building that will form a horseshoe shape with BH and the new east wing. The space in between the three buildings will form a piazza, welcoming the public into a cafe. Above the piazza, a bridge will span the space, linking BH and the east wing. It leads to a central eating hub that is designed - optimistically - to ensure people from different departments in TV and radio mingle with each other.
Despite the scale and the problems, BBC chief operating officer John Smith has promised the project is due to come in under budget by about £8m when it is completed in 2009 or 2010. The work is about half complete, with major tasks already tackled. They include dealing with two tube tunnels that run underneath the site, digging around sewers, dealing with disgruntled local residents, ensuring adherence to heritage requirements - all while keeping BBC radio on air.
Room 101 demolished
One of the biggest challenges for builders Bovis Lend Lease was how to cut out the noise of the underground - the bane of Today presenters before they moved to west London. A solution has been achieved by a remarkable engineering feat - the whole east wing is held up by giant springs that dampen the noise. Lift shafts have also been suspended from floors above so they do not touch the floor and transfer any rattles to the building.
Bad news for future director generals, though. An underground tunnel linking Radio 1 to BH that has been used to smuggle DGs in times of crisis has gone. Also demolished is Room 101, supposedly the inspiration for the eponymous location in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. But another oddity, the BH concert hall's giant organ, so loud it can only be played at night when the building is deserted, remains.
Entering the new BH, the first thing visitors will notice is the new reception. Painstakingly cleaned, it now features a long, modern smoked-glass welcome desk. Communication and partnership manager Robert Seatter says: "What we've done is to take things back to the original design when it was built in 1932." Tasmanian oak panelling in the director general's office has been taken back to its original colour. The high-spec digital studios and open plan offices include colour-coded areas to help people find their way round - if you want the exit, head for white. One of the most striking features of the new building is a glass cone that will sit astride the east wing's roof. The sculpture, called Breathing, has been designed to commemorate those who have lost their lives working for the BBC: at 10pm every night, at the start of the main news bulletin, it will shoot a beam of light 1km into the sky.
With all the controversy over budget cuts at the BBC, will West One give what Mark Thompson wants - value for money? Project director Keith Beal, who has worked for Disney, says: "It gives us enormous savings, bringing World Service and all news, radio and music together on one site. The cost of backroom functions, catering etc can be shared, thus reducing overheads."
There's one important thing left for Beal to fix, though. On the day I visited it was raining and BH was leaking. No change there, then.
The £649m redevelopment of Broadcasting House is halfway to completion. So how does it look so far and will it be finished on time and on budget? New research shows that defamation cases are at twice the level of a decade ago. Should journalists be concerned?
Tara Conlan
Monday September 26, 2005
The Guardian
The fortunes of Broadcasting House often appear to mirror those of the BBC. As the David Kelly affair turned from controversy to tragedy in 2003, the hoardings went up at BH. Heads rolled, the corporation recoiled from government attacks and the BBC's famous central London headquarters retreated from public view.
Now the landscape is different. The licence fee is safe, the BBC has bounced back and a sleek new BH is emerging, primed and polished for the digital future. However, it has not all been plain sailing. This summer the National Audit Office criticised the corporation for "misunderstanding" how much it would profit from its new White City complex. That led to the scrapping of the BBC's planned 30-year outsourcing deal with property giant Land Securities Trillium. There were also headlines in May after it emerged that its £649m redevelopment of BH is about 11 months behind schedule and is £7m over budget because of changes to the original plans.
The project, called West One, is designed to house all the BBC's national radio staff, plus those of the World Service from Bush House, TV news staff, and the radio news division, which was moved amid much disgruntlement (much of it from the exiled Today programme) in 1998 to Television Centre in Shepherd's Bush. It is the biggest and most complicated construction project the BBC has undertaken. Eventually, 4,500 employees will work there.
The first phase involved demolishing and rebuilding parts of Val Myer's iconic 1932 building, which is Grade 2* listed, and refurbishing the rest. Two adjacent buildings, Egton House, and Radio 1's home at 16 Langham Street, were also knocked down. They are being replaced by what will now be known as the east wing of BH - mostly housing news operations.
To further complicate matters, the BBC decided at the last minute to spend £13m on Western House - another nearby building that houses Radio 2 and 6 Music. Previously the plan was just to refurbish part of it, but it proved more cost-effective to re-fit it entirely. However the result was other building work was put back and the cost of the whole project went up.
This has had a knock-on effect on phase two. Due to start in 2006, it involves knocking down an ugly modern block that backs on to Duchess Street. It will be replaced by a building that will form a horseshoe shape with BH and the new east wing. The space in between the three buildings will form a piazza, welcoming the public into a cafe. Above the piazza, a bridge will span the space, linking BH and the east wing. It leads to a central eating hub that is designed - optimistically - to ensure people from different departments in TV and radio mingle with each other.
Despite the scale and the problems, BBC chief operating officer John Smith has promised the project is due to come in under budget by about £8m when it is completed in 2009 or 2010. The work is about half complete, with major tasks already tackled. They include dealing with two tube tunnels that run underneath the site, digging around sewers, dealing with disgruntled local residents, ensuring adherence to heritage requirements - all while keeping BBC radio on air.
Room 101 demolished
One of the biggest challenges for builders Bovis Lend Lease was how to cut out the noise of the underground - the bane of Today presenters before they moved to west London. A solution has been achieved by a remarkable engineering feat - the whole east wing is held up by giant springs that dampen the noise. Lift shafts have also been suspended from floors above so they do not touch the floor and transfer any rattles to the building.
Bad news for future director generals, though. An underground tunnel linking Radio 1 to BH that has been used to smuggle DGs in times of crisis has gone. Also demolished is Room 101, supposedly the inspiration for the eponymous location in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. But another oddity, the BH concert hall's giant organ, so loud it can only be played at night when the building is deserted, remains.
Entering the new BH, the first thing visitors will notice is the new reception. Painstakingly cleaned, it now features a long, modern smoked-glass welcome desk. Communication and partnership manager Robert Seatter says: "What we've done is to take things back to the original design when it was built in 1932." Tasmanian oak panelling in the director general's office has been taken back to its original colour. The high-spec digital studios and open plan offices include colour-coded areas to help people find their way round - if you want the exit, head for white. One of the most striking features of the new building is a glass cone that will sit astride the east wing's roof. The sculpture, called Breathing, has been designed to commemorate those who have lost their lives working for the BBC: at 10pm every night, at the start of the main news bulletin, it will shoot a beam of light 1km into the sky.
With all the controversy over budget cuts at the BBC, will West One give what Mark Thompson wants - value for money? Project director Keith Beal, who has worked for Disney, says: "It gives us enormous savings, bringing World Service and all news, radio and music together on one site. The cost of backroom functions, catering etc can be shared, thus reducing overheads."
There's one important thing left for Beal to fix, though. On the day I visited it was raining and BH was leaking. No change there, then.