For the past year Robert Seatter (BBC History), John Thompson (British Vintage Wireless Society) and myself have been attending the Professional Advisory Group meetings at Alexandra Palace.  This group have been concerned with the development of the former BBC studios at Alexandra Palace.  
Last Wednesday (8th February) was the first occasion we had access to the south-east wing following the enabling works.
These works overran by several months due to the excessive amount of asbestos discovered during the stripping out.  The cost of asbestos removal has now reached £2m!
I took these photographs during our brief tour round the studios and control galleries.  I hope they provide some idea of the current state within the south-east wing for members of the forum.


Studio corridor.
Studio A on the left, dressing rooms on the right.


New visitor entrance into Studio A.


Studio A with original victorian windows removed revealing the brick-up colonnade & the emergency exit from the 1936 conversion for television.


Studio A looking towards control gallery.


Bricked-up colonnade beside Studio A.


Colonnade & Studio A.


New visitor entrance to Studio A, showing original entrance from the tower on the right.


Original victorian windows, complete with sash boxes.  These will be renovated and reinstalled.


Colonnade beside Studio A.


Ventilation room on mezzanine floor beside Studio A.


The control galleries between the two studios showing dividing walls & mezzanine floors removed.  This will be the object displays area as part of the visitor tour.


Studio A original mezzanine gallery from 1936, with door to studio bottom right.


Looking towards TV News mezzanine gallery which has been removed.  The radiators can still be seen halfway up the walls near the window.  The ventilation ducting still has to be removed.


Showing where dividing walls have been removed and doorway into corridor.


Studio B.


Bricked-up colonnade beside Studio B.  This originally housed the Baird Intermediate Film camera in 1936.


Studio B showing location of original gallery and viewing window.  The arch on the left was location of Baird IFT camera and the bay window structure that remained for many years.


Far end of Studio B looking towards the control gallery.


Studio B looking towards its associated control gallery.  The windows stacked on the floor are awaiting collection for refurbishment.

The opening of the studios as a visitor centre has been delayed until mid-2019, rather than autumn 2018.

John wrote on Feb 13^th, 2017, 8:59am:

I have been assured John that the transmitting side of AP will be covered by the interpretation in the studios and with exhibits in the object store.
 
At present there are no plans in Phase 1 to include the ground floor in the redevelopment of the south-east wing.  A number of walls have been removed on the ground floor in preparation for the works to create the new BBC Foyer.  Any redevelopment in this area would be included in a second phase of development, but that would require additional funding from various sources.

The studios have thrown-up a number of challenging obstacles.  When the floorboards were removed in Studio A, a plaster of paris/asbestos floor was revealed covering the entirety of the void beneath the studio floor.  It is thought this was poured directory into the void as a layer of sound insulation during the original 1935/6 conversion.

The Transmitter Hall was converted into a community use space about 8-10 years ago, and is one of the few useable rooms on the ground floor.  The former BBC Canteen (under the bowling green) has also been cleared of its accumulated junk and is now waiting for the removal of the old kitchen equipment.

This is what the Transmitter Hall looks like today:


as compared to 1981:


On the subject of the Transmitter Hall, I found the following being used as a door stop on my visit to AP last Wednesday:


From the inscription on the plaque I am assuming this was made as a memento for someone who worked at AP, or perhaps it was a retirement gift.  Why it is at AP is anyones guess!!

Many hidden treasures have been found by the workmen during the course of the enabling works, many from the First World War when AP was used as an internment camp.  Leather shoes, postcards, even a box of tetanus vaccine (complete with bottle and contents & stamped March 1918), original Swan lightbulbs from the turn of the century, as well as newspapers have been found in wall & ceiling voids.