Media Darling! “It was always built as a gated community, it was completely insulated from the outside world. It had its own hairdressers, even a travel agent, the idea was that it functioned 24/7 and you had no reason to go out.” - Alistair Shaw, Managing Director of the TV Centre development at Stanhope. It was the world’s first custom-built studio complex for television and radio, with 400 offices for 3,000 people, studios, dressing rooms, equipment stores, wig-making departments, a hair salon, make-up areas, wardrobe space for 16,000 items, libraries for scripts and music, and band rehearsal rooms, among other things. It was first conceived as a scribble on the back of an envelope by architect Graham Dawbarn in 1949 and completed in 1960. Yes, that famous donut building on Wood Lane in London’s White City. The first. The BBC ‘campus’ totals 14 acres. At it’s centre stands ‘Helios’ the Greek Sun God symbolising the radiation of television around the world. The labyrinthine building has been turned into a complex with apartments, restaurants, a Soho House private members’ club and a hotel — as well as new working space. The first residents of the 950 apartments (starting from £550,000 for a studio) have already moved in. This time around the general public will be able to wander on the landscaped forecourt of the Grade II listed circular building. That’s right folks, free to walk around the ‘Helios’ fountain and statue at the centre of the doughnut where ‘Record Breakers’ host Roy Castle achieved the world’s largest tap dance in 1977. Remember that?! #neonurchin #neonurchinblog #dedicatedtothethingswelove #suzyurchin #ollyurchin #art #music #photography #fashion #film #words #pictures #neon #urchin #BBC #whitecity #donut #london #mediacentre #heliousapartments #crescentapartments #sohohouse #cowshed #bluebird #royalcollageofartscampus #retro #grahamdawbarn #stanhope (at Television Centre, London)
