2020 – Best Fit Out of a Workplace (South West) by the British Council for Offices.[8]
BBC Cymru Wales New Broadcasting House[9], previously known as the BBC Cymru Wales headquarters building, is the headquarters of BBC Cymru Wales in Central Square, Cardiff. It operates many of its broadcasting services (radio and TV) from there using IP-based studios.[10][11] It also serves as a base for S4C.[12]
The £120 million building replaced the BBC Cymru Wales Broadcasting House in Llandaff,[7] when 1,000 production and support staff began moving into the new facility in October 2019.[12] The building is officially located at 3 Central Square, but has also been referred to as BBC New Broadcasting House.[13]
Operation
The interior of New Broadcasting House
Atrium, looking towards the Wood St entrance
Atrium, looking in the direction of the Central Square entrance
General studio on the ground floor of New Broadcasting House, where Crimewatch Live is broadcast[14]
The building's first live transmission was made on 14 July 2020 by continuity announcer Tim Cooper on BBC Two Wales. Continuity announcer-director Leanne Thomas introduced the Six O'Clock News on BBC One Wales for the first time on 15 July.[15][16]
TV news programmes including BBC Wales Today for BBC One Wales and Newyddion for S4C transferred from Llandaff to Central Square in September 2020,[19][20]
On 27 January 2021, S4C moved its TV and online operations from Parc Tŷ Glas, in Llanishen, Cardiff to Central Square from where the channel now broadcasts. Under a partnership agreement, BBC Wales provides S4C's playout and other technology services.[21]
The building has achieved the BREEAM "Outstanding" rating,[22] which was first introduced in August 2008 to recognise a new standard of sustainability for exemplary buildings.[23] The building will also be the first BBC building to use live IP (internet protocol) technology,[7] it also has augmented reality, virtual reality and robotic cameras.[24]
Design and construction
Construction started in December 2015[1] on the site of the former Cardiff Central bus station.[25] The building is half the size of the former Broadcasting House in Llandaff.[25] The BBC received the keys to the building in April 2018, after which the headquarters was fitted out with new technology[26] before staff moved in, around October 2019.[5]
The building has been designed by Foster + Partners,[7] with the interior design by Overbury and Sheppard Robson.[27] There will be four floors providing office, studio and production space.[1] There will be desk space for 750 staff, on the basis that not all the 1,200 staff will be on site at the same time.[27]
The internal size of Central Square over several floors is 155,582 square feet (14,454.0m2), making it nearly 1.5 times the area of the Millennium Stadium pitch.[28]
It is envisaged that an estimated 50,000 people will visit the new building every year.[25] The BBC agreed a 20-year lease on the building at an annual rent of around £25 per square foot per annum with Rightacres Property Company, the developer of the Central Square.[29]
Llandaff is a district, community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It was incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff, whose diocese within the Church in Wales covers the most populous area of Wales.
S4C is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience. S4C's headquarters are based in Carmarthen, at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David's creative and digital centre, Yr Egin. It also has regional offices in Caernarfon and Cardiff. As of 2024, S4C had an average of 118 employees. S4C is the fourth-oldest terrestrial television channel in Wales after BBC One, ITV and BBC Two.
Pobol y Cwm is a Welsh-language soap opera produced by the BBC since October 1974. The longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC, Pobol y Cwm was originally transmitted on BBC Cymru and later transferred to the Welsh-language station S4C when it opened in November 1982.
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales.
Huw Meredydd Stephens is a Welsh radio and television presenter, currently broadcasting on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 6 Music.
BBC Wales Today is the BBC's national television news programme for Wales, broadcast on BBC One Wales from the headquarters of BBC Cymru Wales in Central Square, Cardiff. According to the BBC, it is the world's longest-running television news programme.
ITV News Wales at Six is the evening news programme broadcast and produced by ITV Cymru Wales.
Newyddion S4C is a Welsh-language news programme broadcast on S4C and produced by BBC Cymru Wales, covering national and international news stories from a Welsh perspective.
BBC One Wales is a Welsh free-to-air television channel owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales. It is the Welsh variation of the UK-wide BBC One network and is broadcast from Central Square in Cardiff.
Broadcasting House was the headquarters of BBC Cymru Wales' radio, television and online services, situated in north Cardiff. The purpose-built facility opened in 1966 and consisted of three blocks containing studios, offices and technical facilities. In 2020 the BBC moved out, transferring to New Broadcasting House in Central Square, Cardiff. The building was demolished between 2021 and 2022, with the site to be used for new housing.
Television in Wales began in 1952. Initially, all programmes were in English with occasional Welsh language programmes. In 1982 Welsh language channel S4C was launched. The digital switchover happened in 2009-2010 and S4C became an exclusively Welsh language channel.
As the capital of Wales, media in Cardiff plays a large role in the city and nationwide. Employment in the sector has grown significantly in recent years, and currently provides employment for 2.1% of the city's workforce – higher than the level across Wales (1.1%) and marginally lower than that across Great Britain as a whole (2.2%).
Ffeil is a Welsh language television news programme for children and young people, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for S4C.
ITV Wales and West, previously known as Harlech Television (HTV), was an ITV franchisee in the United Kingdom until 31 December 2013, licensed to broadcast by the regulator Ofcom.
The Tafwyl festival is an annual Welsh-language festival which takes place in Cardiff, Wales. It culminates with a two day open air festival, normally held in Cardiff Castle.
Wales debuted in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 held in Minsk, Belarus on 25 November 2018. The Welsh broadcaster S4C was responsible for organising their debut entry for the contest. Manw was selected through Chwilio am Seren to represent Wales, winning the televised national final on 9 October at the Venue Cymru in Llandudno. The winning song, "Hi yw y Berta", was chosen internally and written by Ywain Gwynedd.
This is a timeline of the history of ITV in Wales, including the current service ITV Cymru Wales. It does not include events that affect the whole UK network.
This is a timeline of the history of television in Wales. It does not include events that affect the whole UK.
Cardiff Bus Interchange (CBI) is a bus and transport interchange in the centre of Cardiff and forms part of The Interchange development, which also includes Wood Street House at the northern end with 318 for-rent apartments, two floors of office space, and four retail units on the ground floor.
This is a timeline of the history of S4C, originally the fourth-oldest terrestrial television channel in Wales. Until 2010 it carried a mixture of Welsh language programmes and programmes from Channel 4 which was not broadcast on analogue TV in Wales. In 2010, Channel 4 became available in Wales on all platforms and S4C became a Welsh-language-only channel.
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