Elizabeth Darling’s new monograph, Palace of the Ether: Broadcasting House and the Architecture of the BBC, 1922-1932, is a fascinating insight into the formation and professionalisation of the entity founded as the British Broadcasting Company in 1922 and granted a Royal Charter in 1927, becoming the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). From an ad hoc collection of offices and studios scattered around various London locations, the newly minted Corporation started a search for a site for a dedicated, purpose-built HQ later that year.
Broadcasting House, Val Myer (architect), 1932
Explore the history of Broadcasting House and the BBC in this new book
This book is the story of that building, and the locations that preceded it, along with the architectural, interior and design decisions that were made to create what has been described as a ‘Palace of the Ether’. Broadcasting House, located at the meeting of Langham Place and Portland Place in central London, officially opened in May 1932.
Studio 3E, Edward Maufe, designed for religious services
In modernist architecture lore, Val Myer’s monumental, curved edifice, with its façade of Portland stone and evocative sculptural exhortations of the ethos and role of a national broadcaster, has always been slightly overlooked.
The more traditional side of the building: Studio 3D by Dorothy Warren, 'for Talks'
The structure was considered Modernism Lite, perhaps, a soft-pedalled version of the more muscular and ideologically pure approach demonstrated by contemporary structures like Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff’s De La Warr Pavilion (1935). For the diehard modernists, the Corporation’s most effective expressions of contemporary design were in the interiors.
Sketch by Victor Reinganum depicting Lance Sieveking's method of multiple studio production using the Dramatic Control Panel, c.1932
However, as Darling chronicles, it was the interior work of Raymond McGrath, Edward Maufe, Wells Coates, and Chermayeff that really set a standard, creating contemporary studio interiors that seemed completely in sync with the BBC’s mission to educate and modernise. Chermayeff and his peers were praised for their use of modern materials and contemporary furnishing pieces.
Studio BB, Raymond McGrath, designed for 'Dance Bands, Octets and Chamber Music'
And yet, many of these pioneering spaces were swiftly upgraded and overhauled, either through wartime destruction or through sheer expediency – broadcast technology was moving fast, and they were quickly outdated.
The Dramatic Control Panel and Dramatic Control Room, eighth floor of Broadcasting House
As the book also shows, modern interiors often sat side by side with more old-fashioned, traditional spaces, complete with ersatz fireplaces, drapes and libraries of leather-bound books. Regardless of the interior approach, the BBC set about presenting Broadcasting House as a central part of its identity, a role it continues right up to the present day.
'HP', Cartoon plan of the eighth floor of Broadcasting House, 1932
This is a text-heavy book, rich with research and rewarding historic anecdote. It tells a story that is still being written, albeit with the BBC’s authority and role being challenged like never before.
'Palace of the Ether: Broadcasting House and the Architecture of the BBC, 1922-1932,' Elizabeth Darling, £45, LundHumphries.com