[Mike]

Yet despite the bespoke fit out it was still too small, and didn't have a TV studio in for Midlands Today, meaning they ended up in a converted meeting room.

This isn't quite true, see below.

How did that happen? Did they plan on having the programme presented from the newsroom or maybe on the mezzanine balcony, LDN style? I’m presuming they didn’t just forget to include a studio.

Pretty much the LDN style route. Remember in 2001 when the outline application went in, that was the future. The very first plans (available at the Library of Birmingham on Microfiche) show a very different layout, and curved meeting rooms where the studio is with the gallery shoehorned in behind it. The far end of the newsroom that later became the Politics Show set was the news 'studio'. However early on plans changed, a studio was put in and the meeting rooms (there was an upper and lower one, overlooking the office) were removed, squared off, and turned into a studio. There were two, very small, television studios on the original plans - one was the N24 DTL studio and the other was a presentation studio, which was next to the gallery. By that time LDN was showing it's flaws as a concept and they moved away from that as a plan.

It wasn't ever constructed as a meeting room which is a myth even I at one stage propagated, but the proximate space where the studio is now was designed to be a meeting room.

up.metropol247.co.uk 

This shows level 8 of the Mailbox on the amended plans, however some of the original plans remain - where the gallery is, to the right is a room - that was the presentation studio as planned, later became Media Arc. The studio was half the length and 2 meeting rooms with curved walls (I think windows) overlooking the entire office. The gallery itself 'swapped' rooms with the room that backs onto it, you can see that by the identical size of the two rooms and the fact the pres gallery overlaps into the room behind for a door.

It's still not the smallest regional news studio in the BBC estate, and does have a reasonable grid height for it's purpose, it's just quite square because of it's late change of use which makes anything fitting difficult, I'd say the current new sets are the best they've ever had in that particular space as it lends itself quite well to the layout.

Throughout planning and construction English Regions were adamant the public should be able to see in, hence the funny shape of the space. Never really worked though as from the main staff door into the offices you could never see into the studio without leaning on the balustrade, otherwise you'd just see the backs of heads, the back of the sofa and a red wall and block the staff revolving door.