Broadcasting House was the headquarters of

BBC Cymru Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...

' radio, television and online services, situated in north

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. The purpose-built facility opened in 1966 and consisted of three blocks containing studios, offices and technical facilities. In 2020 the BBC moved out, transferring to New Broadcasting House in Central Square, Cardiff. The building was demolished between 2021 and 2022, with the site to be used for new housing. The building housed the national broadcaster for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, providing a range of English and

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

content for audiences across Wales on television, radio and online.

History

Broadcasting House was designed by Welsh architect Dale Owen (1924–97). Construction began in 1963. The BBC moved into the building in 1966, which housed production and technical facilities, and was the principal base for BBC Cymru Wales. It was officially opened by

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. ...

on St David's Day (1 March) 1967. The building was located in the

Llandaff Llandaff (; ; from 'church' and ''River Taff, Taf'') is a district, Community (Wales), community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It was incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of the Bisho ...

area of northern Cardiff, near the River Taff. It was close to Danescourt railway station and served by several Cardiff Bus services. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) and the BBC National Chorus of Wales moved out of Studio 1 at Broadcasting House into a new facility, BBC Hoddinott Hall at the Wales Millennium Centre in 2009. Much of the BBC television drama studio facilities moved out in 2011 to a new facility in Roath Lock,

Cardiff Bay Cardiff Bay (; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it is the river mouth of the River Taff and River Ely, Ely. The body of water was converted into a lake as part ...

. In August 2013, it was announced that Broadcasting House and Ty Oldfield (Oldfield House), which is opposite Broadcasting House, was for sale, with plans to move to a new a purpose-built headquarters in Cardiff by 2018. The BBC has said that the "ageing infrastructure at Llandaff is clearly reaching the end of the road and it is time to look to the future". It was said that they considered three possible sites in Cardiff: * Central Square, which is north of

Cardiff Central railway station Cardiff Central () is a major station on the South Wales Main Line. It is located in the capital of Wales, Cardiff, down the line from London Paddington, via , and measured via . It is one of the city's two urban rail network hubs, along wi ...

* Land south of the railway station * Land between the

Senedd building The Senedd building (), in Cardiff, houses the debating chamber and three committee rooms of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ; formerly the National Assembly for Wales). The Senedd building was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 1 March 2006, Saint ...

and the UK headquarters of Atradius. The Welsh Government's historic environment service

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

advised that the building should be

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

, but in 2014 John Griffiths, the Welsh Minister for Culture and Sport, overrode the advice and decided not to list the building. The decision was criticised by

The Twentieth Century Society The Twentieth Century Society (abbreviated to C20), founded in 1979 as The Thirties Society, is a British charity that campaigns for the preservation of architectural heritage from 1914 onwards. It is formally recognised as one of the National ...

, which described it as ''one of Wales' most outstanding and important post war buildings''. In 2014, it was confirmed that Broadcasting House and Ty Oldfield would be demolished and turned into 400 residential units. The BBC confirmed in 2015 that Central Square would be the location of their new headquarters building. The BBC began to move out of the Llandaff studios during 2019. Wales Today were the last to make the move on 25 September 2020. In September 2020, BBC Wales closed Broadcasting House and completed the move to Central Square. The site was acquired by the development company

Taylor Wimpey Taylor Wimpey plc (formerly Taylor Woodrow plc) is one of the largest home construction companies in the United Kingdom. The company was created from the merger of rivals Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey on 3 July 2007. It is listed on the Lond ...

for a housing development, and Broadcasting House was demolished between November 2021 through to 2022. The site is now called Parc Llandaf, that will eventually include 377 homes with one and two bedroom apartments, plus three, four and five bedroom houses.

Architecture

The building was modernist in style, and aspects of Dale Owen's design reflected

Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (; 18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-born American architect and founder of the Bauhaus, Bauhaus School, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modernist architecture. He was a founder of ...

's 1948 design of the

Graduate Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public university, public research institution and post-graduate university, postgraduate university in New York City. Formed in 1961 as Divi ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in Massachusetts. Owen had studied at Harvard, and had spent a year working in Gropius's architectural practice,

The Architects Collaborative The Architects Collaborative (TAC) was an American architectural firm formed by eight architects that operated between 1945 and 1995 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The founding members were Norman C. Fletcher (1917–2007), Jean B. Fletcher (19 ...

. The design was also influenced by

Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect, academic, and interior designer. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. He is regarded as one of the pionee ...

's 1949 design of the Lake Shore Drive apartment buildings in Chicago. The building incorporated a long low-rise section housing the studios and a tower for the administration offices. The use of a concrete structural frame enabled large areas of glazing, and the main Llantrisant Road elevation was partially glazed.

Programming

Television programmes produced at Broadcasting House Cardiff included ''

BBC Wales Today ''BBC Wales Today'' is the BBC's national television news programme for Wales, broadcast on BBC One Wales from the headquarters of BBC Cymru Wales in Central Square, Cardiff. According to the BBC, it is the world's longest-running television n ...

'', ''

Newyddion ''Newyddion S4C'' (''S4C News'') is a Welsh language, Welsh-language news programme broadcast on S4C and produced by BBC Cymru Wales, covering national and international news stories from a Welsh perspective. History Welsh-language television ...

'', '' Doctor Who Confidential'', '' The Chatterley Affair'', ''

Pobol y Cwm ''Pobol y Cwm'' (''People of the Valley''; ) is a Welsh-language soap opera produced by the BBC since October 1974. The longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC, ''Pobol y Cwm'' was originally transmitted on BBC Cymru (now B ...

'', '' Belonging'', '' High Hopes'', ''

Satellite City A satellite city or satellite town is a smaller municipality or settlement that is part of (or on the edge of) a larger metropolitan area and serves as a regional population and employment center. It differs from mere suburbs, Subdivision (la ...

'' and '' The District Nurse''. It was announced in March 2009 that the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

would move the filming of shows such as ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'' and ''

Crimewatch ''Crimewatch'' (formerly ''Crimewatch UK'') is a British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving the case. The programme was or ...

'' to the Roath Lock studios in

References

External links

* * {{Authority control BBC offices, studios and buildings Television in Wales British television studios Buildings and structures in Cardiff BBC Cymru Wales Buildings and structures completed in 1966 Modernist architecture in Wales Office buildings in Cardiff Demolished buildings and structures in Wales Buildings and structures demolished in 2021

History

Architecture

Programming

See also

References

External links