| STLD Cardiff visit
STLD trip to new BBC Cardiff Broadcasting Centre | By Martin Kempton Photographs by Paul Middleton
But first - what did the BBC leave behind... The old BBC Llandaff site on the outskirts of Cardiff was purchased in 1952. The initial development of 6 sound studios, concert hall (later called Studio A), technical block and offices was completed in 1966. TV Studio C2 (1,500 sq ft) came into service in 1974 and the main production studio C1 opened in December 1979. It was 80 x 62 metric feet within firelanes, making it about 6,500 sq ft overall. So somewhat smaller than the 8,000 sq ft production studios at Television Centre in London but similar in scale to the BBC’s main studios in Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and Glasgow at the time. So, a useful size and fully equipped with all the current technology of its day. C1 was busy making programmes for Wales of course but was also used to make dramas and comedies shown throughout the UK. From 1980 to 2011 its regular booking was Welsh language soap, Pobol y
14
Cwm. This originally went out on BBC Wales but from 1982 it was transmitted on S4C. The show also used an exterior set, constructed at the back of the Llandaff main building. In March 2012 Pobol y Cwm moved to the new BBC drama studios at Roath Lock in Cardiff Bay. Crimewatch UK became a regular booking in C1 but that was axed in 2017. A few editions of the daytime spin-off Crimewatch Live did continue but the studio was now unused for much of the time. Of course, multicamera drama had ended many years before and music and variety shows tended to be made in much larger venues. Some years ago I lit a couple of shows in C1 – a sitcom called High Hopes and a celebrity music improv show called The Lyrics Game. I found the studio well-equipped and the local staff really friendly and helpful. Studio A had been intended to be used by the BBC Symphony Orchestra of Wales but this moved
to a new home in the Hoddinot Hall at the Wales Millennium Centre in January 2009. So that studio was also no longer in regular use. The writing was on the wall and in a bid to divest itself of bricks and mortar, BBC Llandaff was sold to Taylor Wimpey in 2015 to be demolished in due course and replaced with housing.
The move to the new building
Once the decision to move from Llandaff had been made, the BBC did a deal with Cardiff-based Rightacres Property, supported by Cardiff Council. The company would build a new HQ near Cardiff Station to be called BBC Central Square and lease it to the Corporation. This of course meant that the BBC did not have to raise the capital but unfortunately also meant that they didn’t have full control over some of the details of the building’s design, nor have day to day control of what can be installed Set & Light | Autumn 2022
