With the UK’s studio and stage space sector having grown at a rapid pace over the last decade, the industry is working hard to ensure that both new and established facilities operate in the most sustainable way possible.
That’s no mean feat. There are over 50 studios currently open for production in the UK, of different ages and sizes. Filmmaking has, for example, been going on in Elstree for more than a century, while Pinewood Studios opened officially in 1936. Other facilities like The Depot Liverpool have been established in the last few years. And while many are purpose-built, others are based on former industrial or business sites such as The Bottle Yard Studios, based in the former Harvey’s Bristol Cream factory, or Scotland’s First Stage Studios, housed in what was previously Leith’s Pelamis Building, a former wave turbine plant.
While experts acknowledge that it would be a challenge to provide blanket advice to address the sustainability needs of all of these facilities, the British Film Commission (BFC) has long been dedicated to providing as much information as possible as to how they can reduce their carbon footprint.
Now the BFC is preparing for the launch of their ‘Progressing Studio Sustainability’ guide, produced in collaboration with PRP Architects and the sustainable development team at infrastructure experts AECOM. It will be a valuable resource for studio developers, owners and operators looking for insights and advice on everything from waste management to renewable energy.
Jeremy Pelzer, Stage Space Development Consultant at the BFC, says the guide has been designed to fill an important knowledge gap within the UK’s film and high end TV industry. “While there is literature [on sustainability] widely available for more traditional real estate property types, specifically office buildings and warehouses, there is very little in relation to more bespoke buildings like film studios and sound stages.
“The guide is designed to provide studios with meaningful information that we have gathered over the past four or five years, so that they can make their own informed decisions as to what they would like to adopt,” he continues.
At just over 60 pages long, the guide is divided into two sections. The first looks at technologies and innovations that existing studios could utilise to improve their environmental standards, while the second provides options for new studio and stage space developments. It all draws on extensive research undertaken by AECOM into subjects including power diversification and embodied carbon. “It is developed from a very deep dive analysis into these subjects,” says architect Alistair Weir, Manchester-based partner at PRP. “Our role was to make that understandable.”
And, notes Pelzer, the guide is a “living” document that will continue to evolve alongside future sustainability research. “There’s definitely scope to add to the guide. Nobody knows what is around the corner in terms of air source and ground source innovation. Somebody may design a phenomenal heating technology that doesn’t exist today. If it is relevant and appropriate to studios, we would add that.”
The guide also considers capital costs of sustainability initiatives, alongside other key topics such as ease of maintenance, timeframe and technical feasibility.
Experts certainly agree that sustainability is at the heart of studio development. “It is now established thinking that sustainability investment brings commercial advantages,” says Toby Dare, director, sustainability and risk management at The MBS Group. He notes that responsibility for making investments and improvements used to be passed back and forth between productions and studio management; he now believes there is a consensus that everyone “has a part to play.”
Knowledge sharing
To that end, and to mark the launch of the guide, the BFC has hosted a series of workshops with stakeholders throughout the UK, which also served as networking events, allowing studios to brainstorm and problem-solve with those in a similar situation.
“The British Film Commission has brought the conversation about sustainability within film and TV together,” says Katherine Nash, business operations manager at Bristol-based The Bottle Yard Studios. “They have created a forum where there is common ground for all of the studios to have a conversation that will then inspire each of them to work a little more collaboratively.”
Through the BFC workshops, Nash and her team have struck close bonds with colleagues at facilities like The Depot in Liverpool and Space Studios Manchester. “Historically studios didn’t talk to each other so freely,” observes Nash, “and I certainly think we have learned some lessons together.”
The Bottle Yard Studios certainly has a great deal to share with other studios, having won plaudits for its environmental strategy. Its three-stage second facility TBY2, which opened in 2022, was, as Nash points out, “one of the first to put significant solar panels on the roof. I think that has influenced other studios.”
Similarly, Sky Studios Elstree’s state-of-the-art waste disposal system, sustainable LED lighting (used instead of eco-unfriendly tungsten) and commitment to electric vehicles have also been inspiring the sector.
And the recently opened Eastbrook Studios in East London has been certified “BREEAM excellent” under the “Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method” classification system for their eco-friendly construction.
Some may assume that retrofitted older buildings start from a disadvantage when it comes to environmental sustainability. Yet, as Pelzer points out, further factors need to be considered. “New studios have to measure the carbon impacts of material choices, design, and construction when they are being developed, whilst the embodied carbon impact of refurbishing existing studios or converting pre-existing infrastructure and buildings is significantly lower.”
There has clearly been a huge shift in the attitudes of UK studios surrounding environmental awareness. “It has become significantly more important,” says Weir. And, he observes, that focus on sustainability goes beyond the fabric of these buildings into the day-to-day operation of the spaces — which, unlike building and construction, is not covered by any legal regulations, rather facilitated by the BFC and dedicated industry initiatives like BAFTA albert.
“What has been interesting about the UK-wide workshops we’ve partnered on with the BFC is that there is a big contrast between regulatory compliance and the operational challenges of productions using the space sustainably,” Weir continues. “The productions are using production spaces sustainably by choice.”
Dare believes that the new BFC guide will do a great deal to encourage best practice in every area. “It is a great tool, and can certainly inform the next round of studios investment towards a brighter and more sustainable future.”
Find out more: Studio Sustainability Guidance
