Kelvin Hall – BBC Studios

The facility is multi-camera studio, offering state-of-the-art gallery suites and ancillary areas including dressing rooms, a green room and offices to meet the needs of production.

The client’s ambitions were to provide a fully functional studio space with a high specification of technology and equipment that would support the functionality of the building and its users.

The refurbished area was part of the listed building which created challenges from a design and construction perspective. New services were provided to the studio area including electrical, telecoms, water, and specialist drainage facilities. All the previous services had to be coordinated with a complex third party fit out within the studio space to suit specialist contractor installations and specific BBC requirements.

The filming studio along with the production suites have high acoustic requirements due to the activities taking place within the rooms. As a result of this, the air handling and ventilation systems were designed to take this into account. The main outcome of this was to reduce the velocity of the air flow through the ductwork whilst providing adequate heating, cooling, and ventilation to each space. This was achieved through the sizing of the mechanical plant and strategic positioning of attenuators.

Keeping the studio space functional during use was a main priority for the client. The electrical supply and incoming telecoms connections were a key aspect for this functionality. Due to the activities taking place in the studio, power resilience was a top priority. The supply to the new studio area utilises the existing electrical switchboard within the Kelvin Hall which is also backed up by a standby generator and Uninterruptible Power Source (UPS) to ensure live shows remain operational during any power failures.