BNP Paribas Asset Management Alts (BNPP AM Alts) has appointed McLaren Construction as main contractor for the redevelopment of the former BBC Elstree Centre.
The centre, which first opened as a film studio in 1914, has been rebranded as Fairbanks Studios to reflect its ownership in the 1950s by Hollywood legend Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Around half of the 16-acre site will be transformed into a 266,000 sq ft campus for the TV and independent film industry and the remainder of the site will be occupied by the BBC on a long-term lease. The BBC’s space, which includes the set of TV soap EastEnders, was recently upgraded.
The brownfield redevelopment will more than quadruple the stage space to approximately 100,000 sq ft across five state-of-the-art sound stages, ranging in size from 16,000 to 21,000 sq ft.
The expansion will also add new workshops, offices and a café, alongside the 58,000 sq ft Media Hub providing office and amenity spaces exclusively to media-related industries and businesses directly connected to the studios.
Paul Serkis, director of studios projects at McLaren Construction, said: “Film and high-end TV production is one of the success stories of the UK economy and there is a real and pressing demand for high quality production space here. Approved schemes in the right locations need to come out of the ground quickly to meet that demand and take full advantage of the sector’s growth potential. We are delighted to be working with BNPP AM Alts and Oxygen Studios to deliver Fairbanks Studios.”
The project team also includes Harringtons Builders, Aarsleff, SCWS, Halsall and Northern Cladding.
