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Site of a house depicted on historic OS maps, used as a broadcasting station house. The OS 1st edition shows the house with a walled garden containing a sundial to the northeast. The broadcasting station forms the southwest part of the current house. The site of Beechgrove House or the Station House for the BBC in Aberdeen was located on Beechgrove Terrace in King's Gate. The first radio broadcast from Aberdeen was in 1923 with the original studio being at 15 Belmont Street with the call sign 2 BD. In 1927, the BBC re-located to the site on Beechgrove Terrace, which was previously a detached private residence. In December 1939, the house was converted to a Station House having five studios with offices. This was known as the most northerly broadcasting station in the British Isles. Four of the studios were housed in the main building and the orchestral studio was located in the extension wing. It had special walls and roofing constructed to perfect acoustics such as walls with sound absorbing panels of rock wool and an open grille ceiling inlaid with gauze to absorb sound waves. Adjoined to the studio was the listening room where volume was controlled. The other four studios were used for talks, drama, gramophone recitals and sound effects. From 1939-1945, Beechgrove Station was 'off the air' until hostilities ceased; in 1944, BBC Aberdeen celebrated its 21st anniversary of opening in Aberdeen at Beechgrove. In 1954, the building was altered and redecorated to accommodate broadcasting by television. The TV cameras at Beechgrove were able to link up with the BBC national network at anytime instead of relying on mobile booster stations. In 1993, the Station was axed, despite a large local following. There were plans to demolish the house and turn it into apartments in the mid-1990s. The Station House could not be saved or become a listed building as it had been altered many times over the past decades and fell outside the local conservation area. The building itself was demolished but the trees surrounding the house were protected by Tree Preservation orders. The garden and walls surrounding the house at Beechgrove Terrace were also kept. The new development on the site would see the end of the original site of the Beechgrove Garden (which was relocated to Brotherfield) and the BBC Club. A new BBC building was built next to the site of the original house in December 1998 on the 60th anniversary of the BBC presence on the site.
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Historic Environment Records (HER) 
Aberdeen City
HER -
NJ90NW0717 - BEECHGROVE