The BBC and their new £1 Billion HQ
When the BBC spends anything, its scrutinised, largely due to the fact that we here in UK pay for it all through our TV licence every year. In the last year there have been protests and anger over the ‘big spending’ BBC’s major star wage bill. How then, will those angered by Johnathan Ross’ £18 million pound earnings (prior to Sachs Gate) react when they hear about the estimated £1 billion spent on Aunties new home in London?
The Guardian‘s Jonathan Glancey got a sneak peek into the very nearly complete building, due to be occupied by some 5,000 workers by 2013.
The new HQ is an effort by the Beeb to reduce costs, much like the government, they believe in spending their way to a balanced book. Regardless of all the money spent, objections raised and years taken, this is another major development in London nearing completion.
Whilst we have yet to get our invite to a look around (must just be lost in the post, right Auntie) the images tell their own story, and it certainly expresses a brave public architectural front for an institution often lamented for being bland. Glancey may not consider the building to be as successful as it may have been had the original lead architects MacCormac Jamieson Prichard seen the job through to completion, we tend to view it in a more positive light. Time will tell, true success will be judged by the licence fee paying public. Worth £1 billion? perhaps.
via: [The Guardian]
photo courtesy of Simon Kennedy
