Staff members have taken to wearing ear plugs after an ear-splitting performance inside the newly refurbished BBC headquarters in London.
The complaints over loud music came as the £1billion, decade long, expansion of New Broadcasting House, in Portland Place, approaches completion.
Broadcasting House was opened in 1932 and the landmark Art Deco building, adorned by Eric Gill’s modernist sculpture and friezes, has become synonymous with the corporation.
The refurbishment, which has involved the addition of an east wing, provides 80,000 square metres of state-of-the-art digital broadcasting facilities for television and radio.
It also features atrium spaces, allowing BBC staff and audience members to meet and watch shows.
However this idea has not met with enthusiastic support from staff, who have raised objections about the noise inside the building.
A producer on World of Music on the World Service, Oliver Jones, wrote to the BBC’s magazine Ariel about the problem.
He complained; “I work on the seventh floor in New Broadcasting House and the level of noise made it extremely difficult to concentrate on work – you could hear it even with headphones on.
“It (the atrium) is not suitable as a performance space, as the noise gets to so many parts of the building and affects so many people who are trying to work hard.”
According to The Telegraph another BBC employee said he and his co-workers used ear plugs to drown out the noise.
However the BBC have acknowledged the issues raised concerning noise levels.
A spokesperson explained; “This was a one-off event held in an indoor atrium space.
“We have taken on board staff comments, and as a result, do not plan to hold an event of this kind again in this area of the building.”
On the other hand, the outdoor World piazza, which is intended as a performance space, is due to open fully from April.
Created by Mark Pimlott, the space has been referred to as a new ‘art pavement at the heart of the new central public space’.
The BBC said: “This unique public arena will provide a place to linger and see the BBC in action, a performance and exhibition space and a cafe.”
The expansion and refurbishment of New Broadcasting House was carried out by architects MacCormac Jamieson Prichard (phase 1) and Sheppard Robson (phase 2). The project was managed by Land Securities Development.
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