BBC Scotland’s HQ is the built representation of its brand identity, supporting its TV, radio, digital and educational services.
Client BBC Scotland | Architect David Chipperfield Architects |
Interior Architect Graven Images | Electrical Contractor Northern Light |
Photographer James Newton | Project Team Mark Major, Clementine Fletcher-Smith |
BBC Scotland’s HQ is the built representation of its brand identity, supporting its TV, radio, digital and educational services.
Like a television set, by day the building’s appearance is ‘turned off’. After dark the building is ‘turned on’ - animated by colour and life. The basis of our lighting concept suggests the creative spirit of the BBC by revealing the inner workings of the building after dark. Like a television set, by day the building’s appearance is ‘turned off’. After dark the building is ‘turned on’ - animated by colour and life.
The crown of the building is highlighted with colour-change LED floodlights programmed with a series of variable scenes for different days of the week. These are able to be re-programmed by the BBC’s own in-house lighting designers for special occasions such as Red Nose Day, St Andrew’s Day, or Christmas.
By way of contrast, we revealed the main satellite dishes on top of the building in pure white light, to maintain a sense of permanent connection to the rest of the world.
Bearing in mind the BBC’s own stringent requirements for ease of maintenance, sustainability and affordability, we achieved the final exterior lighting identity within an energy target of less than 0.5W/m2. This is a clear demonstration of the possibility for a major workplace building to have a strong external image without consuming large amounts of energy.