According to the BAFTA Albert Annual Review 2023, overall carbon emissions associated with television and film industry have increased since 2022. Transport and fuel are acknowledged to be the among the biggest contributors to these emissions, followed by filming spaces and accommodation.

Architects have a role to play in helping the industry transition to net zero by designing studios and associated facilities to help address these issues. By creating low carbon spaces that people want to be in, that inspire the next generation and can adapt to meet future need.

Going back to basics and asking ourselves what we need, why we need it, and who it’s for at the beginning of a project is key to challenging preconceived ways of design and construction. Especially as the way the television and film industry operates is fundamentally changing.

Cutting-edge technologies are powering the creation of realistic virtual environments and Virtual Production (VP), which according to a Future Observatory Cultural Policy Fellowship Report, has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 20% to 50% compared to traditional film production methods. The studios we design must therefore not only keep up with these changes; they must facilitate them. 

Collaboration is a crucial component if we want to create positive change with long-lasting impact. Capitalising on different areas of expertise, as well as taking the opportunity to educate ourselves, our clients, consultants and contractors is needed if we want to develop a more holistically sustainable concept that champions the needs of both people and planet.

BAFTA Albert have teamed up with Arup to produce the Studio Sustainability Standard which provides a much needed and valuable benchmark for studio facilities across the globe. Criteria is comprehensive from an operational perspective, however, there is still much to be said about how the actual design of these buildings can contribute towards achieving net zero in the future.

Studios need to work harder for us than ever before - they must be highly flexible, energy efficient and multipurpose to accommodate a wide range of production requirements. Considering the positioning of these buildings is crucial too. Creating occupiable and flexible outdoor space enables us to simultaneously increase set space, enhance biodiversity and provide additional amenity to support wellbeing onsite.

At Shinfield Studios, rethinking how and what we build studios from enabled us to develop an innovative structural solution that facilitated speed of construction by reducing the number of materials and trades required onsite. It’s about creating building components and using materials that can be dismantled, recycled, repurposed, and reused in the future. Crucially, this approach offers a more sustainable alternative to concrete traditionally used to build studios on scale, with improved thermal and acoustic qualities.

The location of studio complexes is incredibly important to successfully contribute to an area economically, reduce travel associated with production, and strive towards a goal of net zero emissions. Ensuring studio campuses are well connected to wider public transport infrastructure, towns and cities increases viability of job uptake for locals. By designing energy efficient studios to accommodate VP production, with a bank of centralised amenities provided onsite, we can help to reduce the need for productions to travel, reduce energy required to run these facilities, while meeting the needs of producers and their teams.

So the future of studios will be flexible and adaptable in all aspects from site selection, modular vs permanent structures, physical vs virtual, choice of materials, creating place, use of renewable energy, growth in the ever-changing media content and social, economic impact to culture.