David Bowie

THE BBC’s Maida Vale studios have been sold for a reported £10.5million.

The historic west London building in Delaware Road – that has recorded music from legends The Beatles, David Bowie and Led Zeppelin – was put on sale in November 2022.

It was announced this week that film composer Hans Zimmer, his business partner Steven Kofsky, and Notting Hill film producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner have bought the site.

Mr Zimmer, who first worked at the studios 45 years ago, said: “I was just a kid, in awe, honoured to be booked to play on one of my first sessions. I still remember the strong pull, the desire to touch the walls, as if that would somehow allow me to connect to the artists whose extraordinary music had resonated against these walls on a daily basis.

“This was a place of revolutionary science in the service of art, this was place that inspired you to give your best, where music was performed around the clock and art was taken seriously. For the people by the people. This was a place that kept a struggling musician like me from giving up.”

The studios – originally site of one of Britain’s largest roller skating rinks – were due to be sold to developers but campaigners got the building Grade II-listed.

The BBC later tried to overturn the listing, which protected it from redevelopment, but this was rejected last year.

Initial plans suggest the building’s owner will keep it as a studio space, with a multi-million pound refurbishment plan and keeping the original façade.

In a statement, Mr Bevan and Mr Fellner, co-chairmen of Working Title Films, with hits such as Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral, said: “The venue has become part of the fabric of the UK’s pioneering cultural industry, from helping to nurture new and ground-breaking artists, to housing some of the world’s most legendary musicians.”

Lorna Clarke, director of music at the BBC, added: “We are so pleased to secure a sale which looks to continue the bright, vibrant future of music-making in this iconic building, not only providing new studio spaces but jobs and an education facility.”