The BBC's interactive services group, BBCi, asked IDEO to design a concept for a publicly visible environment showcasing the ongoing generation of their interactive services. IDEO reconceived the ground-floor windows of the BBC's central London offices as a series of portals into the interactive and virtual world of the BBC. Within that space, IDEO designed a chat studio, a transmission control area, and a creative working space to house and demonstrate the various interactive media services offered by BBCi.

This new spatial program supports the working teams and also exposes their work through direct links to their consumer, the general public. The public gains access to the rich content of the BBC information systems and participates in the generation of information.

During live chat with BBCi guests, one window surface invites passers-by on the street to participate by sending questions from their personal mobile phones using SMS. Their questions are received and displayed within the showcase space, on a large message board covering the back wall of the chat studio.

Another window invites passers-by to experience the BBC's interactive television capability by using touchpads installed on the window to select from various programs and various interactive channels.

Visibility and access to the building's interior is therefore a programming principle of the project, with the building itself becoming an interface with which passers-by can interact.