Basement

Diagram of the basement
A room with chairs facing a big radio
94 ❧ Listening Hall No. 1. A seascape roughly painted on canvas has been introduced to counteract the effect of being shut in a small room.
Comfortable chairs and a standard lamp
Listening Hall No. 1. A view of the back of the room showing the furniture.
A large radio sits in front of a decorated recess
96 ❧ Listening Hall No. 2. The designer has produced a stimulating effect of sunlight by the use of gold and silver foil.
A bank of large black batteries
97 ❧ Storage Batteries for the Emergency Lighting Supply. This lighting is permanently switched on to enable the performances in the studios to be continued in case of the failure of the ordinary lighting.
An empty space with a microphone and a large speaker
98 ❧ One of the Echo Rooms. The music from the studio is reproduced on a loudspeaker in a resonant room, and the sounds thus obtained are picked up on a microphone and sent on to the Control Room, where they are simultaneously added (in any required degree of echo effect) to the same music coming direct from the studio.
A corridor
99 ❧ The Studio Corridor, leading to the balcony of the Vaudeville Studio, BA.
A curved balcony with railings
100 ❧ Studio BB: a view of the Balcony.
A curved balcony with seats
101 ❧ Vaudeville Studio: the Balcony, intended to accommodate part of the small audience required for giving atmosphere to the broadcasts.

Sub Basement

Looking down into a studio with a sofa and a piano
103 ❧ Vaudeville Studio BA. General view, showing the stage in front of the 'wings', the floor space where the orchestra is normally accommodated, and the seating for the audience at the back.
A view across a studio, with a large circular central light and a curved balcony
104 ❧ The Vaudeville Studio BA. A view taken from the back of the stage, looking across towards a corner of the balcony. Note the collapsible black screens at the sides of the stage, which are intended to be drawn out to form 'wings'. The prevalent colouring of the decorations is grey blue, lemon yellow, and pale red.
Upholstered chairs with steel frames
105 ❧ The Steel Chairs.
Looking down into studio with a piano and a very large illuminated clock
106 ❧ Studio BB, normally used by the B.B.C. Dance Orchestra.
A curved room with a black shiny wall and a washbasin
107 ❧ Artists' Dressing Room for Women. Intended for artists broadcasting from the Vaudeville Studio. The back wall is of black glass which is reflected in the mirrors on the side walls.
Looking in through a door at a curved shelving unit and a fitted sofa along the back wall
108 ❧ The Lounge for Studio BA and BB.
Pipes emerge from solid bases with large gauges
109 ❧ Corner of the Boiler Room, showing hot-water circulating pumps, hot-water storage tank and calorifier.
A huge metal pump with two gauges
110 ❧ Boiler Room – Pumps for the domestic hot-water supply.
A motor with a crank running into a large sealed circular unit
111 ❧ A Ventilating Fan, showing its motor fitted with a joint for insulating the vibration of the engine.
A massive circular duct through concrete
112 ❧ An Air-Conditioning Plant – an interior, showing one of the large intake fans. This and the next photograph are by Sims & Co.
A cabinet with several horizontally-mounted sprinklers
113 ❧ An Air-Conditioning Plant – the Water Spray for washing the particles of soot and dust from the air drawn in from the street.
Three large 'turbines' with pipes emerging
114 ❧ The Refrigerator, for cooling the air in summer when it is too hot to be circulated to the studios at its natural temperature. The plant is capable of freezing 200 tons of water a day.
A tall cabinet with a crank handle and 4 dials
115 ❧ Main Power Input Circuit-Breaker. The power is supplied by the St. Marylebone Borough Council on six separate feeders (3-phase), three at high-tension 6,600 volts, and three at 240 volts between each phase and neutral.
Winding machinery
116 ❧ Passenger Lift Motors and Controls.
1932 // THIS IS TRANSDIFFUSION