BBC West One Broadcasting House
Portland Place, London W1
The project comprised of the construction of the 2nd phase of BBC Broadcasting House in Central London, at the heart of which sits Europe’s largest live newsroom. Byrne Bros.’ responsibilities included the construction of three levels of waterproof basement (Grade 3 and 2) and nine levels of superstructure. Due to the proximity of the adjacent structures, the basement had to be constructed around extensive temporary works which were required to support the retained walls. This required the outer diaphragms be substantially complete before the central core could commence, making the overall construction logistically challenging.
The structure included three slip formed cores and a combination of reinforced concrete and post tensioned slabs.
The necessity for large spans in the 24hr Newsroom required the use of 4 particularly large fluted columns and 6 substantial transfer beams utilising Post Tension design normally associated with heavy civil projects.
The transfer beams and support columns were all fair faced and can now be seen during the daily broadcasts of the BBC news. The phase 2 works joined the existing Phase 1 works (also constructed by Byrne Bros.) linking the Old Broadcasting House to become the BBCs main London Headquarters. Covering 80,000 square metres and providing facilities for nearly 6,000 staff from the BBCs network and global services in Television, Radio, News and Online.
