±«Óãtv

The contract for the supply of workplace and interior design services for Phase Two of the ±«Óãtv Broadcasting House development in central London has been awarded to HOK following a competitive public procurement process.

The ±«Óãtv was looking for a design partner with leading-edge, innovative solutions to support and encourage a creative, flexible and agile workforce and create an inspiring, exciting and vibrant environment for people to work in.

Andrew Asbury, Programme Manager of the ±«Óãtv's W1 Project, said: "We had a fantastic response from our short-listed bidders and it was a tough decision to make.

"However, we are confident that we have found an exciting and dynamic team who will support us in delivering a transformational workplace that will add considerable value for the licence fee payer."

The 45,000 square metres state-of-the-art media centre at ±«Óãtv Broadcasting House will be an iconic home for the ±«Óãtv's national and international journalism from 2012.

It will bring together ±«Óãtv News, Global News, including the ±«Óãtv World Service, and Audio & Music for the first time in a new live multimedia environment.

This will enable transformational opportunities for creativity, collaboration and value-for-money to the benefit of audiences across London, the UK and around the world.

The building will achieve a BREEAM 'Excellent' rating.

The new Broadcasting House building will house more than 5,000 staff – nearly a quarter of the ±«Óãtv's workforce. The vast majority of them will be programme-makers providing public service broadcasting via three 24-hour TV news channels, nine radio networks and 32 foreign language services to a worldwide audience of more than 285 million people.

This unprecedented co-location of ±«Óãtv staff and services will create one of the world's largest newsrooms.

Notes to Editors

• The ±«Óãtv published a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) in November 2008 to procure a design consultant for the supply of workplace and interior design services for Phase 2 of ±«Óãtv Broadcasting House.
• The closing date for pre-qualification was in January 2009 and a shortlist of nine companies was announced in February 2009.
• HOK's design team is: Aileen Asher (project director); Andy Warner-Lacey; Beate Mellwig; Barry Hughes; Brett Shwery; Daniel Herriott; Emma Wharton; Sam Bradley and Tim Hatton.
• HOK has extensive experience in interior design and workplace strategy and has recently advised The Guardian News and Media on its new working environment. Other award-winning projects in the UK and abroad include: Cisco; SJ Berwin; Dechert; Severn Trent Water; Biogen Idec; MTV; Exxon Mobil; AOL; Bloomberg; Warner Music and Time

HM2