Who wants it ?

The Grade II listing of the BBC's Maida Vale studios has been re-confirmed by the DCMS, making it much less attractive as a development site. 

There's no easy money to be made sticking luxury flats over and above all this, as per the terms of the listing. 

The BBC Maida Vale Studios, Delaware Road, London, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* for its elaborate rendered Edwardian baroque frontage and the structural shell of the 1909-1910 building, which relate to its design as the Maida Vale American Skating Palace, an exceptionally large and ambitious design produced by noted commercial architects Detmar and Gregg;

* for the studio layout and retained features from the 1934-1935 conversion and the 1952 acoustic retreatment conducted by the BBC’s Engineering Department, which demonstrate a sophisticated design for a multi-purpose recording space at a very early stage in the development of this building type;

Historic interest:
* as one of the very earliest recording studios to be established in Britain, expressly designed to house the fast-developing technology of sound recording for radio broadcast, the original five-studio configuration surviving with early fittings retained;
* as an early and important building associated with the BBC which has been integral to the Corporation’s radio output since the 1930s;
* for its important place in British musical history, as a long-established and renowned studio which since the 1930s has captured and produced seminal recordings of some of the world’s most celebrated artists and performers

THE EXTENT OF LISTING AND EXCLUSIONS

The special interest of the BBC Maida Vale Studios lies principally in the external form of the building and, internally, in the recording studios and their associated spaces rather than in the other administrative, storage and service rooms throughout the building. The ventilation block to the south and the boiler/plant extension to the north-west gable end, are excluded as outlined on the attached map showing the extent of listing.

Within the building the listing covers the main entrance area leading to the stairs down to the lower-ground studios, all parts of studios MV1-MV5 (including control rooms and storage areas set between the studios) and the associated lower-ground corridors connecting these studios. However, all other internal parts of the building, including the ground-level offices to Delaware Road, the canteen and the later-added studios MV6-MV7 are not of special interest and are specifically excluded from the listing.

To see floor plans from 1974, click here