New production offices to be built at Berkshire studios
Shinfield say the new development will include screening cinemas
A new office building to support the work of the UK’s largest new film and TV studios is coming to Thames Valley Science Park.
Wokingham Borough Council has given the green light for Shinfield Studios to build an office block next to the new film centre. It will be used as an office, but could also be used as a cinema for residents.
Shinfield Studios recently opened in June to become the UK’s biggest new film and television studio, after being approved in 2021.
It will be built on ‘Gateway 4’ of Thames Valley Science Park, owned by the University of Reading, as part of a large expansion of the park.
The planning application, approved by council officers on August 13, says the office will be used for ‘creative industries’, including film and television. It will also contain a café and have associated landscaping.
The five-storey development would support the functions and activities of the Shinfield Studios campus, located to the east and west of the site. There would be a plant room at the top of the five floors.
Although the building would mainly serve as an office space, it would also include two post-production screening cinemas, with a total of 100 seats. This would be used to edit film content but could also potentially be used for community used on weekends.
Shinfield Studios wrote in the report for a council planning committee: “The new building will help support these activities for the wider studio campus, clustering the activities on one main site and cement Shinfield studios as a centre that specialises in film and media production that will benefit the borough and the wider region.”
The design of the building is described as ‘high quality’ and ‘complementing the business park’.
The application also argued that it would bring employment to the borough, which would benefit the council.
Shinfield Studios opened in June this year and boasts 18 sound stages. Major films for the site will typically require production crews of 300-500 people, including technicians and craftspeople.
The studios have already hosted the latest Ghostbuster film and the latest Disney+ Star Wars series, The Acolyte.
In the decision notice, council officers indicates that no live audiences for media and filming activities would be allowed without prior approval, which had to be seeked 10 working days prior to the event.