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Breaking News From the BBC

Shan Kelly -- Interior Design, 5/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Elton John. Celebrities can be high-maintenance. To get them to appear on the U.K.'s national television network—and keep them happy during the process—BBC Studios recently invested in a major redesign of support areas.

Two decades had passed since the suburban London facility was updated. Green rooms were dark and uninviting; dressing rooms a hodgepodge of furnishings. "It was time for the rooms to match the caliber of the talent that they cater to," says BBC Studios head Richard Philipps. "It was time for stylish and funky—but practical."

So the BBC invited staff and independent production teams to walk through, making recommendations on improvements. Those comments informed the work of G.A. Design International, chosen on the strength of a strong hospitality portfolio.

"It was meant to feel like a really nice hotel," says associate Joanna Biggs. "We took that a little further, to an almost residential level." The BBC also requested enough wow factor to make support areas a talking point and enough flexibility to age well or be updated.

Work encompassed four superstar suites, seven star dressing rooms, 11 for groups, and two green rooms as well as two conference rooms—for a total of 2,230 square feet on two floors of a circular 1960's building. Faux and real animal skins add texture. Backlit graphics provide color and pattern in a medium that's easy to change.

In each superstar suite and star dressing room, horsehair curtains create zones for sleeping, TV watching, script reading, and makeup sessions. (One makeup area features a white hemisphere of a pedestal chair, plus a backlit etched-glass wall.) And G.A. really pushed materials boundaries in the bathrooms. "The BBC let us to take risks most hoteliers wouldn't dream of," says Biggs. "We persuaded them that teak is fine in a wet area as long as oil is regularly applied." Stars with children in tow usually proceed to the group dressing rooms, where another boundary-pushing material lies beneath the laminated walnut floor: bouncy padding in recycled nylon.

Conference rooms and green rooms come with the latest technology—LCD or plasma-screen TVs, Wi-Fi hookups—as well as furnishings that groove with the 1960's vibe. In one green room, a pair of felt-upholstered crescent sofas bask in the orange glow of digital artwork printed on a vinyl sheet sandwiched between backlit acrylic panels, and wedge-shape stools are covered in cow- hide that looks like pony skin. There's even a walnut-veneered wet bar behind a slatted walnut screen.

Windows are fitted with blackout blinds and metallic sheers. Privacy, after all, is a prerogative of celebrity.

In a green room at BBC Studios, London, cowhide mimicking pony skin covers the stools beneath a table's frosted-acrylic top, and felt upholsters the crescent sofas. The seating groups are framed by a walnut screen, a patterned vinyl sheet sandwiched between backlit acrylic panels, and a backlit frosted-acrylic wall.

Clockwise from top: Gerard van den Berg's chairs covered in hard-wearing faux suede gather around a conference room's lacquered MDF table. A group dressing room features Arne Jacobsen stools and a custom seating cube. A chair covered in faux leather appoints a star dressing room with a backlit etched-glass wall.

CUSTOM STOOLS, SOFAS, TABLES (GREEN ROOM), CUSTOM TABLE (CONFERENCE ROOM), CUSTOM SEATING CUBE (GROUP DRESSING ROOM): ARCHER SMITH. SOFA FABRIC (GREEN ROOM): KVADRAT. CUSTOM SCREEN (GREEN ROOM), CUSTOM ACRYLIC PANELS (GROUP DRESSING ROOM): JAMES JOHNSON COMPANY. CHAIRS (CONFERENCE ROOM): LABEL. STOOLS (GROUP DRESSING ROOM): FRITZ HANSEN. PANEL ACRYLIC: AMARI PLASTICS. CHAIR (STAR DRESSING ROOM): INFINITI H. RUG: RUCKSTUHL. GRAPHICS CONSULTANT: INDIGO ART. MEP: LAND SECURITIES TRILLIUM. GENERAL CONTRACTOR: MITIE INTERIORS.