The BBC has confirmed it is to relocate a large part of its Bristol operation from Whiteladies Road in Clifton to a modern city centre office building.
Staff from BBC Studios, which includes its globally renown Natural History Unit, will move to Bridgewater House, pictured, part of the Finzels Reach development, later this year or early next year. 
The corporation is to retrofit around 60,000 sq ft over three floors of the building on Counterslip which are being vacated by French energy giant EDF, which is moving staff closer to its Hinkley Point C nuclear plant power currently under construction in Somerset.
Bristol Business News reported in February that the BBC was poised to sign an agreement to take up to 60,000 sq ft of prime office space in central Bristol.
This week it went public on the deal, which will also include its Factual Entertainment Bristol operation, which make Antiques Roadshow, Countryfile, Gardeners’ World and DIY SOS.
Radio Bristol, Points West and programmes for Radio 4 are understood to be staying at the grade II-listed Broadcasting House on Whiteladies Road – which the BBC has occupied since 1934 – “while future options are explored”.
The Natural History Unit, which has produced multi award-winning programmes such as Planet Earth and Blue Planet II, has been based at Whiteladies Road since its formation in 1957.
It currently has more than 25 projects in production for clients such as Apple, Discovery, Nat Geo and NBCUniversal as well as the BBC itself.
BBC Studios director of content Ralph Lee said: “Moving to a new production base in the centre of Bristol will enable us to continue to support and celebrate the creativity of the Natural History Unit and Factual Entertainment, build on our legacy and invest in our future.
“Bristol is the largest BBC Studios production base outside London and its indisputable success and ambition has empowered us to make this commercial investment.
“We want to grow our production business significantly and retain our position at the pinnacle of programme-making in a highly competitive global market.”
Natural History Unit head Julian Hector added: “I’m so proud of the Natural History Unit’s 64-year heritage, which has firmly established Bristol as the wildlife content production capital of the world.
“Our promise has always been to bring audiences emotionally closer to the natural world through story-telling craft and state of the art technology. In doing so, we show our responsibility to protect it.
“Now we are moving into a 21st century sustainable base in Bristol city centre, which will give our teams the best possible creative environment. For people who dream of giving the natural world a voice, our new home will become a beacon to join us.”
As well as producing content for the BBC, Factual Entertainment Bristol also makes programmes for other channels, including Inside the Duchy for ITV and Party at the Plaza for Channel 4.
Factual Entertainment Bristol head of production Sallie Bevan said: “Our incredible teams make programmes that are watched by millions of people every week, and it is more important than ever for us to represent and be relevant to our audiences.
“Our new home in Bristol city centre will allow us to do our best creative work and bring us closer to our audience and enable us to connect with new and diverse talent from across the region.
“We have many fantastic memories of Whiteladies Road but moving to the new building will allow us to carry on growing our business.”
Bridgewater House is a stone’s throw from the Fermentation Buildings, where Channel 4 opened its 3,200 sq ft creative hub 18 months ago. Finzels Reach is also home to BAFTA-award-winning creative media company BDH and creative studio OUTLAW.
