Sunderland City Council’s planning authority has approved the first phase of Crown Works Studios. Studio One is planned as 125,000 square feet of film and television production space with three sound stages, production accommodation, a backlot and parking.
The project also includes refurbishment of the historic WH Foster Printworks building. Crown Works is part of a wider growth zone backed by more than £38 million from the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority and is intended to support film and high-end television production in the region.
For production planners, the milestone is significant because stage availability, support buildings and backlot capacity influence where large projects can base crews and construct repeatable workflows. Planning approval does not, however, establish whether the facility will provide broadcast galleries, virtual-production volumes, fibre paths, acoustic targets or centralized post services.
Construction dates, opening schedule, stage dimensions, power capacity, grid redundancy, HVAC noise criteria, network and storage architecture, security accreditation, sustainability targets and confirmed tenants are not disclosed in the announcement.
