Local practice wins landmark scheme to design the corporation's northern England headquarters.
Hodder Associates has won a competition to masterplan and redevelop the BBC's New Broadcasting House site in Manchester.

Hodder, which bid in partnership with GVA Grimley and Pickard Finlayson, beat off competition from Building Design Partnership, Stephenson Bell, Shed KM and Studio Baad.

Stephen Hodder, principal of Manchester-based Hodder Associates, said the designs would reflect the BBC's desire to reinvent itself as a friendlier more accessible organisation.

He said: "The BBC has changed its culture over the years. It used to be a very inward-looking company and this was reflected in its buildings – they were like fortresses.

"We will be looking at reintegrating the site back into the city centre and changing it from a fortress into something more open."

Hodder said plans for the redevelopment were at an early stage, but would probably involve a mix of demolition, refurbishment and new build.

Details and costs of the project will be announced in three months, when a detailed masterplan and designs for reconfiguring the buildings will be submitted for outline planning approval. The New Broadcasting House site covers 22 ha.

The Manchester scheme is the fifth of the BBC's large-scale schemes around the country. The other projects are all under way, with two in London and one each in Glasgow and Birmingham.

The designs will reflect the BBC’s desire to reinvent itself as a friendlier, more accessible organisation

Stephen Hodder

Architect MacCormac Jamieson Pritchard has redesigned the BBC's flagship headquarters in central London. When this is completed in 2008, it will be the largest live broadcast centre in the world.

The second London scheme is the Allies and Morrison-designed development at White City, in the west of the city.

In Glasgow, David Chipperfield Architects has been appointed to design a building on the south bank of the River Clyde, which will be the home of BBC Scotland.

Pebble Mill in central Birmingham is to be replaced by the Mailbox development, designed by Building Design Partnership. It will be operational this autumn.

These schemes reflect the BBC's commitment to the creation of quality architecture.