Architects: ID:SR
Location: Greater Manchester, England
Project Manager: Capita Symonds
Quantity Surveyor: Cyril Sweett
M&E and Structural Engineer: AECOM
Main Contractor : Overbury
Client: BBC
Completion: 2011
Area: 31,500 sqm
BBC North is one of the most ambitious projects in the BBC’s history. Opening a new creative hub in the North of England was motivated not only by a commitment to spend the licence fee more fairly across the UK but also to get closer to audiences across the region.
More choice, less space
Taking the lead from the vibrancy of shared spaces and amenities found in cities, BBC North has been designed to capture this vibrancy, offering more choice in less space. Amenity-centric rather than desk-centric, the workplace supports agile working across a variety of desirable work settings tailored to a range of activities, whether holding a team meeting, making a phone call, editing content, having an informal catch up, tweeting or blogging. It even doubles as a studio space, providing the backdrop to a variety of broadcasts.
The ‘meeting pods’ that line the atrium of one of the three buildings at MediaCityUK in Salford have created an iconic image for BBC North. Transforming dead space at the edge of atrium, too narrow for desks or rooms, these visually striking pods, referencing digital pixels in form and colour, have created both focus spaces and intimate collaboration opportunities within the most public of places, connecting all to a marvellous view with the open atrium. These are spaces designed for people which also meet ID:SR’s brief from the BBC: to provoke a smile!
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