The BBC is redesigning the second phase of its £400m Broadcasting House project in Portland Place, London, Building has learned.

The second phase, which consists of the demolition of the 1960s extension to the original structure and its replacement with a building that will link Broadcasting House and the east wing, will eventually house a huge 24-hour newsroom.

Terry Jobbings, Whitbybird’s director for the BBC project, said the project was not on hold but was in the middle of a design review.

He said: “We’re still starting on site in early 2006. I understand that the BBC is holding a design assessment. They want to check they are meeting the targets in the original brief. I was being consulted on adding more area into the phase-two building.”

A spokesperson for Bovis said that the project was proceeding as planned but added that there was currently a value-management process under way.

A spokesperson for the BBC said: “There have been amendments to phase two of the scheme’s design specifications.”