Maida decision

Now it can be revealed.  The new home for the BBC Symphony Orchestra is (drum roll) - the same as the old one.

Built in 1909 as the Maida Vale Roller Skating Palace and Club, the BBC's studio complex in Delaware Road W9 has been struggling to survive into the new millennium, with leaks, power and cooling problems.   Indeed, at the turn of the new century, the BBC was ready to sell it off (to a generous developer, it hoped) and build a new music centre.

An architectural competition eventually produced this "Music Box" design, by the then-emerging Foreign Office Architects.

It was mean to go in front of the monstrosity that is White City 1, and was due to be up and running by 2006, at a cost of £22m. But it never got past the model stage, and was officially dropped in 2008. Since then, a range of sites, refurbs and partnerships have been considered. But, in the current climate, the new financial analysis is that it's cheaper to mend and make-do until the development market improves.


 

The Symphony Orchestra moved into Maida Vale in 1934, after the BBC bought the building and created six studios. It took some damage in the Blitz but was soon put back into business. In 1958, the Radiophonic Workshop was added to the tenants, in little offices and workshops around the edge. In 1963, the Beatles recorded 5 sessions there - and the studios were famously home to the Peel Sessions.

The new strategy means that Maida Vale will also become the operating base for the BBC Concert Orchestra, technically "homeless" since the BBC moved out of the Golders Green Hippodrome in 2004. Let's hope someone in expenses notices.  It's thought a few members of the orchestra have found it convenient to use Golders Green as the starting point for their travel costs beyond 2004.