Marlow Studios granted planning permission following public inquiry

Image: CGI of Marlow Studios - courtesy of Wilkinson Eyre

WilkinsonEyre has been talking about the decision to grant planning permission for Marlow Studios, overturning a decision made by the local authority last year. The architects practice is responsible for the designs.

In 2023, Future Cities Forum invited Robert Laycock, Co-founder of Dido Property Ltd for a panel discussion at the BFI looking the issues around providing enough studio space for film production to take place in the UK. It was a time when investment in film studios was peaking, but there was local opposition to the venture.

Planning for a new UK centre for high-end film and TV production had been submitted by a group of local entrepreneurs and arts industry professionals in Buckinghamshire at the former gravel pits near the town of Marlow. The team behind the property company has delivered between them projects such as the London Olympics, King's Cross and CB1 Cambridge.

Buckinghamshire has had a long association with Oscar winning films and creative industries and is home to Pinewood Studios and the National Film and Television School. Robert Laycock, Co-founder of Dido Property Ltd and his team wanted to leverage the future studios' place in this local cluster, providing new jobs, skills, education, training and apprenticeships in a growth industry, which they said had the potential to provide wealth and prosperity for future generations.

Image below: Robert Laycock (far right), CEO of Marlow Film Studios on Future Cities Forum's discussion panel at the BFI with Sharon Ament, Director of Museum of London discussing the new London Museum at Smithfield Market, London. Ken Dytor, Board Trustee at High House Production Park and Caroline Robbie, Director at BDP Quadrangle also joined the discussion run by Heather Fearfield.

Robert said:

'We are looking at half a billion dollars inwards investment. This is an enormous area that has been scarred by gravel workings and the project is providing skills training and opportunities for young people who want to get into the film industry but simply don't know how.

'I would say that it is great that £18 billion has been spent on the Elizabeth Line but I am afraid Marlow in transport terms is still in the 1920s. So we want to put in a public bus to help bring crew in and out of the site. Film making only happened accidentally in California and the truth is that we have the leadership and culture in the UK to carry out this industry. The crews that are needed are tightly clustered around Buckinghamshire, they are invisible but they are there. They have to travel on top of very long days and so we have to think about them, how they get to the film studios, their accommodation and facilities when they are there. There is a reason that Tom Cruise has been filming Million Impossible in a muddy field in Longcross and that's because it's where the crews are. Bucks really understands the film industry and it knows it can have its own version of Silicon Valley.

'However, it is a 'fortress' IP-driven business and it has to be more open. There is no lack of desire from kids to get into the film business but they need on-set training with a producer. We need to break down barriers to steward them into roles.

'Only 50% of the world has the internet but when the rest of the world gets connected, there will be a voracious consuming of content and that won't go away. Yes, there will be bumps in the road but we are good at ideas and story-telling in the UK and the Chancellor is right when he says we have to go further than we are already.'

Opposition continued towards the project until this week when WilkinsonEyre updated its followers on the UK government news:

'The decision, made by the Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook MP, on behalf of the Secretary of State, recognised that 'world class, Grade A, purpose built film studios that would attract global revenue and support the UK in its drive to become a global leader in this field' whilst also delivering 'facilities to be used for educational community uses, private hire and cultural events.'

'The decision underlines the government’s commitment to further growing the UK’s creative industries as a critical driver for the growth of the UK economy. Official figures published earlier in the year by the BFI showed that film and the high-end TV production spend in the UK in 2024 was £5.6 billion, a 31% increase on 2023, as parts of the sector regained momentum, generating billions for the UK economy.

'Having assembled the proposed development site on the outskirts of the Marlow, Marlow Studios appointed WilkinsonEyre as Architect for their scheme following an architectural competition held in 2021. These detailed plans were examined by the Planning Inspector and Public Inquiry.   

'Marlow Studios set out to commission something different from many existing facilities, sympathetic to the landscape and designed to embed itself into the local environment.  The designs provide a range of carefully designed buildings of differing scale and typology, set amongst extensively landscaped streets and open space.

'The overall development has been split into several ‘clusters’, each with its own amenity buildings serving those who work on the site. Smaller-scale workshops, innovation labs and offices have been strategically positioned to aid the screening of the larger studio buildings, particularly at the site perimeter, helping to reduce the visual impact of the scheme. The pitched and ‘saw tooth’ roofs of the workshops and offices act as visual counterpoints to the ‘larger’ rectilinear, flat-roofed studios.

'Throughout the development, there are a range of buildings of differing hierarchy offering support functions to the wider development whilst providing variety and richness to the ‘townscape.’ These include the Studio Hub, which houses the main administration facilities, along with screening theatres, exhibition space, restaurants and bars. The space also houses; the Culture and Skills Academy, a bespoke flexible building which will lead the Studios’ commitment to training and development for the sector and in the local community. 

'A community building is also included for the benefit of local residents and groups. The development also seeks to connect with the local community through numerous public cycle, running and walking routes crossing the site, offering views into the studio complex and providing a sense of the activities going on within.  These facilities are also designed to enhance the working experience for those employed in the Studios. 

'The nature of filmmaking sees peaks and troughs of activity, with most productions occupying parts of the development for fixed tenures. To ensure year-round activity areas of the development are reserved for businesses, particularly those that provide support film,  HE TV and content production.

'Careful consideration has been given to the form and materiality of the buildings within the development, taking into consideration the semi-rural and urban nature of the site. A palette of materials has been chosen to help the development to harmonise with its sensitive setting including dark cladding and warm terracotta colours, invoking the material palette of rural buildings in southern England.'

“WilkinsonEyre’s brief was clear from the outset: to design the premier film and media studio complex in the UK,” said Robert Laycock, CEO of Marlow Film Studios.

“Their designs certainly deliver this, while the Studios also promise to become a true community asset, providing economic and job opportunities for the local area, and the chance to sustain Buckinghamshire at the centre of the country's fast-expanding creative sector.”