The rare chance to create a new film and TV studio complex from scratch in the UK, equipped with the high performance and flexibility credentials to attract Hollywood, was perfect casting for Scott Brownrigg. Roseanne Field reports.
The plans for Shinfield Studios came at a time when demand for film and TV studio space in the UK was at an “all time high.” A 2021 report compiled by JLL with input from the British Film Commission, Hoare Lea and architectural practice Scott Brownrigg – ‘Reel Estate, Film and TV Studios as an Investment’ – found a growing desire for film and TV content meant there was a demand for increased studio capacity. The report revealed that at the point of writing, 4.5 million square feet of new development space was under consideration – more than doubling the amount of space currently available.
To aid the search for an appropriate size site, Shadowbox Studios – the team behind the project – were introduced to Scott Brownrigg, who were excited to be involved in such a unique project.
“Designing an entirely new film studio complex from scratch in the UK is rare, and presented a unique opportunity to consider what’s been done before, what’s needed now and how we can transform the design of film studios for the future,” explains Jason Lebidineuse, director & head of media, culture & sport at Scott Brownrigg. The chance to create the largest new build film and TV studio campus in the UK was also a way for the practice to “help boost our creative industry and build on the UK’s global reputation for content production,” said the architect.
The search wasn’t entirely easy; Lebidineuse explains that sites of the scale they were looking for are limited near London, their focus therefore was on the area around the M25, where there is already an established hub of film studios. Their search was narrowed to two potential sites, before they settled on a piece of land that bordered the M4. In particular the land offered two key benefits – it had existing planning approval for a (partially constructed) science park, and it was owned by the University of Reading, bringing inherent links to the university. The media courses on offer meant it “could therefore become a source of new talent for the new studios,” explains Lebidineuse.
The practice had some experience in the media sector, beginning in the 1960s when it designed the now Grade II Listed Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford. It has since designed facilities for organisations such as the BBC and Thomson Reuters, but this was to be “our first foray into designing new build film studios,” Lebidineuse says. He continues, however: “This was a natural step for us, given our ability to draw upon our expertise in a wide range of sectors, which includes providing bespoke technical building solutions for advanced technologies and life sciences.”
As well as it seeming a natural progression for the practice, Scott Brownrigg was also enticed by the “unique” opportunity presented by the fact it was to be the first completely new film studio complex in the country. “It enabled us to rethink the typology and create a new offer that could disrupt the market,” explains Lebidineuse.
Flexible & functional
The practical side of the brief was to create a complex that would be large enough to accommodate up to three large-scale productions at one time, “to enable the continuous generation of new content,” says Lebidineuse. This also fed into the search for a suitable site, as it meant it needed to span at least 65 acres.
The project comprises a one million ft² studio facility with 18 fully soundproofed and climate controlled soundstages, varying in size from 17,000 to 43,000 ft². These all have flexible layouts and state of the art equipment to ensure they meet the needs of modern production standards. There are also 38 multifunctional workshops to accommodate various production requirements, and a studio cafe and canteen offer social spaces for the production teams working onsite. Finally, there’s a nine acre filming backlot, and 130,000 ft² of ‘contemporary’ office space.
As well as the necessary practical elements in terms of space and facilities, flexibility was also a key part of the brief. Not only did all of the studio and workshop spaces need to be flexible to meet the varying needs of the productions that would be utilising them, but the facility as a whole needed to be ready to change and adapt as the media industry and technology evolves.
“We worked hard with the client to challenge preconceived ideas of how a studio operates and how it should be designed so that we could set a new standard of studios which can effectively flex to future needs and as the media industry continues to change over time,” says Lebidineuse. “We developed a brief for flexible studios fully geared to meet sustainability objectives with the ability to adapt to the changing requirements of each production.”
The design development was, overall, a team effort, he explains, with the resulting design deriving from good collaboration between the practice and client. “It was a highly collaborative process, working closely with the client and alongside a range of industry experts with experience of designing and delivering large and complex masterplans to ensure the best outcome,” Lebidineuse says.
Throughout the process the key design drivers were at the “forefront of everyone’s minds.” As well as the need for flexible and functional spaces, sustainability and speed to market were also highly important. Aside from the finished design, the collaboration resulted in the development of a structural system that would tick all the necessary boxes – operational needs, sustainability, and speed to market.
The latter was especially important given the “unprecedented requirement” for new film and television studio space in the UK at the time. Sustainability was high on the client’s list of priorities, as was acoustics – particularly given the site’s location adjacent to the M4 motorway. To address these, the team asked themselves the most basic questions: “Asking what we need, why we need it, and who it’s for at the beginning of a project is key to challenging preconceived ways of design and construction,” says Lebidineuse. “We developed an innovative twin wall structural solution that facilitated speed of construction by reducing the number of materials and trades required on site.”
This twin wall system saw a steel frame initially constructed onsite, then the external face of the interior wall was built, acting as a weatherproof layer and therefore meaning work could begin internally at a much earlier stage than what would have been possible with other construction methods. “The outer and inner skin of the twin wall is then built out at the same time, allowing the concrete floor to be poured and M&E installation to start before the final envelope is finished,” Lebidineuse explains. The result is a “quick to build” 800 mm thick wall which is “packed with insulation, and provides fantastic acoustic and thermal properties.”
Helping towards the project’s sustainability goals, the system components and materials can be dismantled, recycled, repurposed and reused in the future. It also has the added benefit of improved thermal and acoustic properties, over the concrete which is traditionally used to build large studios.
Safety and privacy were also given a lot of thought, with the constraints of the busy environments that would be found in the finished studios. “Acoustic buffers, visual privacy, limitation of access and of course safety were fundamental within the masterplan, landscape and architectural design,” Lebidineuse says. “Much of the design process involved careful consideration of how people would move across the site – the division of pedestrians and vehicles, and how to ensure that multiple productions can run onsite while maintaining the highest levels of security.”
While considering those who would be working on the site once finished, the team simultaneously wanted to create a well-integrated scheme with minimal impact to surrounding communities as well. The local authority planning department and local community were engaged at a “very early stage,” explains Lebidineuse, to ensure the design “could evolve to reflect wider community needs and concerns.” One such example of how the design evolved to consider its neighbours was the positioning of the two largest buildings at the centre of the site to “minimise visual impact on nearby residential developments.”
To support the necessary flexibility, the team included studios and facilities in varying sizes to accommodate different scales of productions. They also included multifunctional spaces that could, for example, be utilised as an office one day and a workshop space the next. “Even spaces between – and some of the landscape surrounding the buildings, including the nine acre filming backlot – can be used to create content,” adds Lebidineuse. “This means the site can appeal to the widest range of productions and host multiple productions at various stages of filming, all at one time.”
The final cut
Once all the practical and functional elements of the brief had been discussed and finalised, the team focused on the aesthetic details – though much of these practical considerations still fed into the overall look. “Robust materials and a simple colour palette were used to suit high pedestrian areas and help the scheme integrate into its surroundings,” Lebidineuse explains.
The studios were finished with a dark grey profile metal cladding in order to reduce the perceived mass of the studios within the surrounding landscape, Lebidineuse continues. It contrasts with an impressive three storey yellow portico with ‘Shinfield Studios’ in Hollywood-style lettering above, signposting the entrance. The bright yellow colour has been referenced and continued throughout the site in wayfinding.
As with every aspect of the project, wayfinding and the layout and placement of various elements have been thoughtfully considered. Dictated by the landscape and stream to an extent, the site was ‘split’ into two, accessed from the south via the main entrance. The entrance itself comprises the three storey Shinfield Studios sign, with two large office buildings framing it on either side. These offices include naturally anodised fins which provide solar shading to the workspace inside, as well as helping to “further accentuate the dramatic entrance archway.”
Workshops were placed along the northern edge of the site, “to create a visual and acoustic buffer between the M4 motorway to the north, and sound stages to the south,” explains Lebidineuse. At the centre of the site is what’s known as The Hub – a dining area which overlooks a recreational green space.
Before the University of Reading had gained outline planning for a science park masterplan, the land had previously been an agricultural site, so some design decisions were also made to reference the vernacular of agricultural buildings. For example, the buildings feature simple low profile pitched roofs, the profiled metal cladding, and robust materials such as block concrete flooring.
As well as offering a source of inspiration, the site did also present some challenges. In addition to the proximity of the M4 causing acoustic issues needing to be overcome, the topography meant water drainage was a challenge, which was mitigated by above and below ground sustainable drainage systems. The decision to split the plot in two was partially influenced by an existing stream that runs from the north of the site to a river on the south. “The natural segregation of the site has been used to define two groupings of sound stages and enhanced to provide the attractive recreational green space at the heart of the complex,” says Lebidineuse.
The sustainability drive also played a role in final decisions. The studios have been designed to achieve BREEAM Excellent certification – an ambition since the project’s conception. “Fundamental to achieving this was the structural solution which enabled greater efficiency onsite, helped minimise materials required, and resulted in highly insulated buildings that require minimal heating,” Lebidineuse explains.
The reduction of waste was also an important design consideration, given the constant change and adaptation the studios would be undergoing as productions changed: “The key was to provide flexible spaces that act as a blank canvas for productions to make their own, therefore reducing waste associated with fit out and building permanent sets,” says Lebidineuse. The team were also able to avoid the use of fossil fuels entirely, with all energy generated from renewable sources, such as an air source heat pump and photovoltaic panels onsite.
Construction onsite began in 2021, with the studios delivered in phases by main contractor Curo Construction. The delivery of the spaces in phases was critical, with 80,000 ft² of studio space needing to be erected and fully functional within the first six months in order to adhere to production schedules. Here, the team’s innovative construction method came into its own, not only allowing for the required space to be successfully finished within the necessary timeframe but also meaning construction could continue elsewhere onsite while production began in the finished studio space. “With the site partially occupied, the production and construction teams communicated regularly to make sure that neither was impacted by ongoing works and activities onsite,” says Lebidineuse.
A wider impact
The whole team behind the project was passionate about ensuring the impact on the local community was not simply minimised but made to be positive. This began with their desire to engage the community and local planning authority in the design process from the outset. Local businesses and suppliers were also utilised wherever possible throughout the build – a theme that has continued since completion with potential collaborations with studio productions being promoted to businesses.
The project is thought to have generated up to 3,000 new jobs for the community since its completion in 2024. The studios also worked with Shinfield Parish Council to create a new cinema in the town and support local charities.
On top of helping those nearby and providing much needed filming and production space, the studios is also playing a vital role assisting young people aspiring to work in the industry, as Lebidineuse explains. “Shinfield Studios have invested into the local community,” he concludes, showing how the building is a catalyst for local economic sustainability. Also, various outreach programmes include collaborating with local schools, the University of Reading and Screen Berkshire to “help educate and support the next generation into the industry.”