ARRI Film & TV Studio
Project: ARRI Film & TV Studio
Location: Uxbridge, London
Client: ARRI
Status: Completed
The Brief
Global motion picture media specialist, ARRI had an ambition to expand their UK premises with a top of the range, mixed reality studio. The intention was to create an entirely immersive facility that could suspend a 343m² LED wall in a variety of configurations to suit short and long form productions including films, TV and advertising as well as for events and educational purposes.
The Design
The 13,272 sq ft new facility incorporates a LED volume stage capable of supporting specialist curved screens, screed flooring, AHU and AC installations, and associated lighting and electrics together with mezzanine split level viewing galleries, green room, dressing rooms, hair and make-up facilities, washrooms and catering facilities.
Our Approach
Working with ARRI; the screen specialist, Creative Technology; and with support from mechanical engineers, we devised a design to retrofit and extend the existing former storage warehouse to accommodate the project’s complex technical requirements
One of the most significant challenges was designing around the limitations of the existing building; it had to incorporate a steel frame structure that could hold the weight of the LED wall and be entirely flexible to create any shape. This meant the entire studio space had to be optimised; by creating a split-level mezzanine we could provide the required ancillary facilities and leave the main stage space clear, allowing the screens to display 360⁰ imagery. To support the steel frame structure, we specified spreader beams, which would not only safely reconfigure the panels during shoots but also meant we avoided piling the foundations.
The Result
A phased construction at ARRI began in November 2020 and was handed over in February 2022, creating one of the biggest permanent mixed reality production spaces in Europe.
Our work with ARRI continues as we masterplan a further expansion of the firm’s facilities at Uxbridge to include more studio space, viewing cinema and research labs.
