BBC Radio 1 & 1Xtra Virtual Walkthrough

As part of the BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra ‘ACCESS ALL AREAS’ campaign the BBC asked Showcase Studios & Striking Places to shoot the photography and panoramic imagery to link the insides of the Radio 1 studios in Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London, onto Google Street View. The project received a great deal of media attention and the BBC launched the campaign live on air.

Using Street View Trusted was a perfect opportunity for the BBC to showcase their new Portland Place building and give listeners a chance to experience the famous Live Lounge for themselves. The tour put sights to sounds and the benefits to the BBC are obvious; it’s fun for listeners and it gives greater transparency.

One of the challenges on this shoot was scheduling. We needed to capture all the studios in amongst live broadcasts while causing minimum disruption. Additionally the ability to move between floors in a Street View Trusted tour was still being developed at the time, so Striking Places worked very closely with Google to make this happen. But happen it did and the tour has now been viewed over 1 million times!

Take a look for yourself. It is really interesting being able to see inside the studios and get a feel for the inner workings of a live radio station. Also, take a walk down the famous corridor where celebrities sign the walls when they visit. See who you can spot…