On Air at BBC Broadcasting House

A slow start after last night's late session at an Italian Restaurant. Some great coverage of the Mackintosh Architecture Exhibition in the Independent and on BBC Radio 4.

Spent the later part of the morning at the Photographers Gallery and had lunch there. I think I preferred the location and ambiance of the old site.

After lunch I met up with fellow blipper RadioGirl (Jane) at BBC Broadcasting House for a tour of the studios.

I also spent some time with Jane as she recorded and edited a programme, Health Check, for the World Service. Many thanks Jane for a wonderful afternoon.

The redevelopment of Broadcasting House in London’s West End is the largest capital project ever undertaken by the BBC. It took a decade to complete, cost £1,014m and involved the biggest single migration of staff in the BBC’s 90 year history. The redevelopment was part of a wider cost-saving strategy to consolidate the BBC’s property portfolio and centralise its London operation.

A new chapter in the history of BBC Broadcasting House got underway on Sunday 11th March 2012 when the BBC’s Burmese Service became the first programme to broadcast live from new Broadcasting House. This also marked the start of the BBC World Service's move from Bush House, its London home for over 70 years, to its new multimedia broadcasting home in the heart of the capital.

The Andrew Marr Show was the first live domestic TV news show to broadcast from new Broadcasting House on Sunday 2 September 2012 and BBC World News, the first continuous television service to broadcast from its new studio facilities in Broadcasting House, went live on 14 January 2013. Here you can see a view looking from the helical staircase to the newsroom floor below.

Grabbing a quick bite to eat and then off to see Inherent Vice at the Arthouse Cinema in Crouch End.