An even brighter future for the borough’s film and TV industry is in store with the completion of the two new soundstages at Elstree Studios.
The Platinum Stages, named in honour of Her Majesty the Queen’s jubilee year, have recently been completed, seeing the culmination of a multi-million pound investment in the studios’ future.
The stages have a combined workable footprint of 3,210 square metres, about half the size of a professional football pitch. Clad in innovative timber cassettes, the new stages have been designed to meet international space standards in studio design and can be used as two separate stages or a combined super-sized one. The stages will create hundreds of new jobs, plus apprenticeship and other learning opportunities.
Chairman of Elstree Studios’ board of directors and leader of Hertsmere Borough Council, Cllr Morris Bright MBE, commented: “I’m delighted to see this construction project completed and excited to see the stages fully operational very soon. The stages are among the best in the industry and keep our studios as a top destination for television and film production in the world.”
The stages are a £15.6m project part-funded by Hertsmere Borough Council and the government’s Getting Building Fund via Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
David Conway, chair of Hertfordshire LEP’s film & TV industry panel, said: “As part of our work to further reinforce Hertfordshire’s position as the vanguard of UK film and TV, we’re delighted that funding secured by the Local Enterprise Partnership will help accelerate the growth of the sector locally, providing a host of economic benefits.”
With production space in such high demand, the Platinum Stages will attract new studio business and bigger projects to the county, supporting local jobs and the vast network of SMEs that form the supply chain to the sector.”
The project saw close collaboration between Hertsmere Borough Council, main contractors RG Carter, BAQUS Construction and Property Consultancy, B & K Structures and Rubner.
Dean Hall, director at R G Carter, said: “We’re delighted to announce the completion of The Platinum Stages which will enhance the UK’s growing creative industry. These state-of-the-art soundstages are an exciting development for the area, and it has been a pleasure working with Hertsmere Borough Council and Elstree Studios in supporting their ambitious plans. We look forward to seeing the full potential of the specialist facility, both on and off-screen, for many years to come.”
