PBS 106.7FM Community Radio Station

Begun in 1979 PBS is a not-for-profit community radio station, run by 400+ dedicated volunteers and a small team of staff broadcasting 80 specialist music programs across 24 hours, 7 days/week. It is organised as a cooperative with the core values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. With an estimated 300,000 listeners, PBS depends on loyal community through memberships and donations. They strive to support a thriving, diverse music scene, particularly for under-represented music. The design brief called for a new home for the station that might allow them to pursue this shared vision with integrity and independence.

The brief for the Day and Night Wing of the premises required various studio functions and broadcast requirements with the following programme: reception, toilet facilities, four broadcast studios, master control room, workshop, two production studios with shared isolation booth, kitchen, staff room, green room, recording studio and adjacent control room. The Daytime Wing is home to the management, administration and curation activities of the station. It is comprised of a large open plan office, two enclosed office spaces, a flexible meeting room, a merchandise store and the station library that is home to many thousands of records and CDs.

There is a strong focus on communal spaces that might allow social interaction for volunteers, staff, performers and presenters. These are the connectors for this community facility. Comments from user groups have been entirely positive, particularly the feedback around retention of the precious community feel. The colours and materials evoke a fresh yet familiar environment that succeeds in providing a ‘dressed down’ state of the art facility that compliments the rock n’ roll philosophy of this iconic radio station.

PBS has always welcomed disabled volunteers. Exceeding design compliance, the current disabled staff were consulted on the accessibility of the spaces particularly the acoustic spaces which have not been compromised by the requirement for double doors, airlocks and raised thresholds etc. The site is heritage protected and located adjacent to an iconic Keith Haring mural with stringent protection zones. In addition the premises are mostly underground requiring extensive civil engineering design to achieve a suitably dry environment. ITN Architects arranged for emerging street artist Drez to contribute original artwork in the staff room area. The hand painted mural responds to the station’s emblem colours and the underground feel of the space.