Developer VERB and film studio operator Quartermaster have filed plans for a film and television studio campus near Stewartby in Bedfordshire, valued at £263m.
The Home of Production Studio scheme, designed by architect Scott Brownrigg, involves redeveloping a 143-acre site and former clay mineral quarry to provide more than 1.75m sq ft flexible studio space together with onsite accommodation, amenities and a re-wilded water body and canal.
The former quarry, known as Quest Pit, opened in 1983 and was the last active brick pit in Bedfordshire when it closed in 2008, leaving a series of redundant brownfield sites with access tracks and flooded extraction bowls. Parts of the site up to 12 metres below natural ground level.
Under the proposals, the masterplan seeks to address those by placing four separate 430,500 sq ft production units on a 70-acre platform four metres above water level. Those spaces will be centred around a restaurant and activity zone.
The developers are targeting a BREEAM Excellent rating for the build.
Scott Brownrigg said the land has already been purchased and realisation of the masterplan is fully-financed. Under the plans, a phased construction programme would start in early 2023.
Macfarlane Associates is advising on landscaping strategy.
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