Maida Vale to close as BBC moves live music to east London

Maida Vale has had the pleasure of hosting huge superstars through the BBC, but after 84 years, the iconic studio space will be left due to increased costs of refurbishment.

The discovery of asbestos allowed prices to increase, leading to the BBC diverting its move to east London instead.

The Guardian reported that BBC director general, Tony Hall, said, "“I understand how much our musical heritage at Maida Vale means to us, to artists and to audiences. We haven’t taken this decision lightly. But we’re determined to ensure that live music remains at the heart of the BBC and moving to this new development gives us the opportunity to do just that.”

Goodbye BBC Maida Vale. At least we'll always have this clip of James Burke explaining acoustic scaling using a 1:8 model of you. pic.twitter.com/sDIvMzqgRZ

— BBC Archive (@BBCArchive) June 5, 2018

The new site will reveal new recording and rehearsal studios, and a new home for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and the BBC Singers, as well as frequent use by the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Music Week have reported that the new site will be situated in Stratford's Olympic Park, and won't be completed until 2022-2023.