AXA IM Alts is to transform around half of the BBC Elstree TV Centre and film studio in Hertfordshire into a modern media campus for the high-end television and independent film industry.
The remaining half of the 16-acre site was recently upgraded by the BBC, which occupies the site under a long-term lease, primarily to film its flagship soap opera EastEnders.
Specialist film and TV studio developer and operator Oxygen Studios has been appointed to advise on the project, with construction planned to start later this year.
AXA IM Alts will rebrand the campus as Fairbanks Studios, named after American actor and filmaker Douglas Fairbanks Jnr, who was an owner and operator since the 1950s.
The redevelopment, designed by UMC Architects, will expand the site’s production capacity, more than quadrupling the stage space to approximately 100,000sqft across five sound stages, ranging in size from 16,000sqft to 21,000sqft.
It will add new workshops, offices, a café, base camp, backlot and improved cycle and parking facilities. A new ‘media hub’ will offer 58,000sqft of office and amenity spaces across five storeys, dedicated exclusively to media-related industries and businesses directly connected to the studios.
Rob Samuel, head of UK development at AXA IM Alts, said: “These studios have played an important role in the establishment and evolution of the UK TV and film industry for over a century, since the Neptune Film Company first opened its doors in 1914. We are proud to be moving forward with the redevelopment, continuing that legacy by delivering state-of-the-art studios that will support the growth of Britain’s creative sector and bring lasting benefits to the local area through employment opportunities, architectural distinction and sustainable design.
“With demand for content continuing to increase and with consumers able to choose from a growing number of entertainment platforms, the supply of high-quality space for television and film production has not been able to keep pace. Our transformative plans for Fairbanks Studios, which follow our recently commenced modernisation and extension of the Bry-sur-Marne film & series studios in Paris, will help us address that imbalance and provide us with critical mass as well as further expertise in an emerging asset class where we have a strong conviction.”
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