Beating the other four finalists – Future Systems, Ushida Findlay, MVRDV and Zaha Hadid – the FOA project was chosen because ‘FOA’s vision... was the most exciting and innovative interpretation of what the BBC wanted’, according to John Smith, director of finance, property and business affairs. In addition to this, the project by the Spanish-Iranian duo Alejandro Zaera Polo and Farshid Moussavi was the one with the greatest focus on public space. (‘Their design majors on openness with emphasis on public space’, continued Smith).
By 2006 the new building, nicknamed the “Music Box”, will stand in the White City complex, situated in the west of the British capital; it will accommodate the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Chorus, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the BBC Singers, and will also have two studios for rehearsal, recording and live performances with an audience capacity of up to 600 people.