Broadcasting House, Belfast


Broadcasting House, Belfast is the headquarters building from which BBC Northern Ireland operates many of its broadcasting services. The building is located on Ormeau Avenue in Belfast city centre, at the junction with Bedford Street. Public tours of the building are available.

History

The six-storey building was designed in 1936 by James Millar from Glasgow in neo-Georgian style, steel framed with reinforced concrete floors and roof and a facing of sand-faced bricks. Work started in 1938 and continued despite the Second World War to opening in May 1941. It featured a concert hall and several radio studios. In 1975 an eight-storey extension was built on Ormeau Avenue and in 1984 a three-storey extension, for the expanding news and current affairs service, was added in Linenhall Street West.
BBC Broadcasting House in Belfast has many radio studios, some self-operated, some manned, used for the BBC's main local radio station in Northern Ireland – BBC Radio Ulster, as well as being used by the BBC for other radio productions. There is also a news studio for radio news bulletins, a newsroom which provides news gathering for both television and radio news services for BBC Northern Ireland, along with production offices, makeup, green room, dressing rooms and hospitality/cafeteria services.
Broadcasting House is linked by satellite and cable to the whole BBC network, and is able to link to broadcasters around the world through the BBC's global link ups.
BBC Broadcasting House in Belfast has two main television studios named Studio B and Studio 1. Studio B is a studio, home to BBC Northern Ireland's local news programme BBC Newsline, as well as home to other news/politics/current affairs programming. Studio 1 is a studio, and is used for small productions. It can accommodate an audience of around one hundred if needed, and is ideal for small productions, interviews and is also used for media training purposes. There is also a small presentation studio and a small CSO studio used for small news bulletins, weather, or single-camera interviews.
BBC Northern Ireland's main television studio called Studio A is not based at the BBC Broadcasting House, but is located a number of streets away at BBC Blackstaff House on Great Victoria Street in Belfast.