BBC TV Centre to become cultural quarter
by Aoife Dowling | 08 Feb 2013
London's BBC Television Centre in White City is to be redeveleoped into a cultural quarter that will include a hotel, entertainment and leisure facilities and public open space.
For the first time, the television centre will be opened up to the public with the famous forecourt remodelled into new retail, leisure and entertainment areas.
Property developer Stanhope is responsible for the project, which will see the main circular building, known as "the doughnut" become a hotel and apartments.
A statement from Stanhope said that some offices would be "a variety of public uses, including a cinema, health club, restaurants and cafes, which will benefit the local community".
Other buildings will be transformed into offices and houses and the 14-acre site will also house the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide.
David Camp, chief executive of developers Stanhope, said: "The BBC will continue to have a significant presence at Television Centre and we will be bringing new life into the site with new public routes, spaces and uses," adding that "the much loved listed buildings at Television Centre will be retained".
Other developments for the site include replacing the drama block, restaurant block and multi-storey car park with new residential buildings and townhouses. The East Tower will be replaced with a more slender and differently positioned residential building.
The south of the site will also feature a "village green" of town houses for families with private rear gardens.
The Television Centre site was the former site of the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition. It officially opened in June 1960 and was designed by the architects Norman and Dawbarn in a question mark shape.
Programmes recorded there include Fawlty Towers, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Blue Peter and Strictly Come Dancing, as well as earlier series of Doctor Who.
London's BBC Television Centre in White City is to be redeveleoped into a cultural quarter that will include a hotel, entertainment and leisure facilities and public open space. For the first time, the television centre will be opened up to the public with the famous forecourt remodelled into new retail, leisure and entertainment areas. Property developer Stanhope is responsible for the project, which will see the main circular building, known
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