Forum for former BBC staff

Forum for former BBC staff
http://www.ex-bbc.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl >> News and Comment >> How to save money without sacking staff! http://www.ex-bbc.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1192115774 Message started by Richard Taylor on Oct 11^th, 2007, 3:17pm

Title: How to save money without sacking staff!
Post by Richard Taylor on Oct 11^th, 2007, 3:17pm

In this month's "Prospero" there's a wider view of this photo:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/aboutus/pacificquay/gallery/index.shtml?set=01&page=03

Which got me thinking. Does anyone else think that there's a huge great hole in the centre of that building that :

1. Is going to cost a lot to heat in the winter and cool in the summer.
2. Could have been turned into more office space and made the building a lot smaller and thus cheaper?

The Beeb seems to be going in for these buildings with huge holes in them. Hardly value for money? Build them smaller and more efficiently and there'd be no need for more staff cuts, which the beeb cannot afford.

The shoebox (non affectionate name for BBC Birmingham's mailbox building) is like that, but the hole is because someone got their maths wrong and the floor couldn't take the weight of a whole floor area mezzanine.

Title: Re: How to save money without sacking staff!
Post by C Bentley on Oct 11^th, 2007, 9:40pm

This building was conceived long before the current round of job losses. As a recent visitor I have to say it's a fine building, designed (I think) by this year's Stirling prize winner David Chipperfield. The open spaces you can see are meeting places (some with big bean bags strategically placed for those inclined to tantrums - or sleep). The spaces below what's known as " The Street" house studios and the outer areas are offices. Whilst not wishing to dismiss the inadequacies of the BBC's HQ in Birmingham (a regional centre), this Glasgow building is home to a national service and is a big improvement on the cramped conditions which BBC Scotland endured for x number of years. I would never advocate spending on buildings in preference to jobs, but if it's an issue then it also applies to TV Centre and Broadcasting House.