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BBC confirms sale of Maida Vale Studios to Hans Zimmer
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 15 August 2023
The BBC has confirmed that it has sold its Maida Vale Studios complex in West London to a partnership involving composer Hans Zimmer and the co-Chairs of film company Working Title, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner. The buyers say that “Maida Vale’s legacy as a centre for pioneering music-making will continue”.
Occupied by the BBC since 1933, the studio building in Maida Vale has been used to record sessions by thousands of artists over the decades, mainly for broadcast on the Beeb’s radio stations. It is also the long-term home of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and, from the 1950s to the 1990s, housed the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
Given the history of the place, there was much concern as to what would happen to the building after the BBC announced in 2018 that it would be moving its music studios to a new base in the Olympic Park in East London.
Many speculated that the building would be sold for redevelopment into flats. However, in 2020 Historic England designated the studios as a Grade II listed building, which restricted what any future owner could do with the property.
It was then reported in June this year that the studios were set to be bought by a consortium involving Zimmer. In the statement yesterday, the BBC confirmed: “Maida Vale has been sold to a partnership between Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, and Hans Zimmer and Steven Kofsky”.
It went on: “The purchasers have agreed that Maida Vale’s legacy as a centre for pioneering music-making will continue, with plans to keep the original façade of the building and to preserve the ethos of Maida Vale. Initial plans also state that the building will remain as a studio space, with a multi-million pound refurbishment plan for its existing studios”.
“There will also be the creation of a not-for-profit educational facility”, the statement added, “and a long-term commitment to providing local jobs, innovation and investment”.
Confirming the deal from their side, Bevan and Fellner said in a joint statement: “Maida Vale Studios has been synonymous with artistic excellence for generations. The venue has become part of the fabric of the UK’s pioneering cultural industry, from helping to nurture new and ground-breaking artists, to housing some of the world’s most legendary musicians”.
“We are THRILLED to be working with our old friends Hans Zimmer and Steve Kofsky on this once in a lifetime project”, they continued, “and collectively we are determined to continue the BBC’s legacy at Maida Vale by attracting global talent to the UK”.
Meanwhile, Zimmer said: “The first time I worked for the BBC at their Maida Vale Studios was 45 years ago. I was just a kid, in awe, honoured to be booked to play on one of my first sessions. I still remember the strong pull, the desire to touch the walls, as if that would somehow allow me to connect to the artists whose extraordinary music had resonated against these walls on a daily basis”.
“At the same time”, he went on, “Tim, Eric and I started working together, making our first movies. Movies not only made in Britain with the greatest talent the country had – and still has – to offer, but movies that often provoked and had something to say about a changing Britain; that gave voice to our generation. Usually by making you laugh”.
“My work with Working Title gave me my career in Hollywood”, he continued, “where Steve Kofsky became my partner, and he and I made sure to drag the work from as many Hollywood films as possible back to Britain”.
“So now I want to close the circle: make Maida Vale Studios a place that inspires, teaches, technologically serves the arts and humanity, and gives the next generation the same opportunities I was given: to create and to never give up”.
Back at the BBC, Director Of Music Lorna Clarke said of the deal: “Maida Vale has played such an important part in the BBC’s history, and its significance in popular culture is huge. We are so pleased to secure a sale which looks to continue the bright, vibrant future of music-making in this iconic building – not only providing new studio spaces but jobs and an education facility”.
The BBC plans to open its new studios in East London in 2025, and on that Clarke continued: “We look forward to being able to continue to deliver world-class music to BBC audiences with our new tailor-made BBC Music Studios in the wonderfully rich cultural district of London’s East Bank”.
