Bristol’s Bottle Yard Studios begins £12m expansion

A £12m redevelopment backed by West of England Combined Authority investment will add three new stages to the studios’ portfolio via an expansion into a neighbouring South Bristol industrial site.

Planned for completion this summer, the expansion will increase the number of stages on offer at The Bottle Yard Studios from eight to 11 and is intended to maintain and grow film and TV production in Bristol and the West of England.

Titles recently filmed at the facility, the largest of its kind in the region, include BBC/Amazon psychological thriller Chloe, series one and two of Stephen Merchant’s BBC/Amazon series The Outlaws and BBC One legal drama Showtrial.

Global construction specialists ISG have been contracted by Bristol City Council to convert the industrial property at Hawkfield Business Park, less than half a mile from the main Bottle Yard site, into three new sound stages.

Measuring 20,000 sq ft, 16,000 sq ft and 7,000 sq ft, the filming spaces will be accompanied by ancillary spaces including production offices, prop stores, costume/makeup areas and break out areas, amounting to approximately 82,000 sq ft (7,600m²) of converted floor space in total.

Operations at The Bottle Yard’s main site have also been boosted by a further £1.6m investment by Bristol City Council in renewal and repair works.

Overall, the investment in the current site and new studio provision at Hawkfield Business Park is expected to create 135 jobs during the refurbishment with a further 863 jobs created over the next 10 years through an accompanying Workforce Development Programme focused on high-end TV skills and targeting development of new talent in South Bristol.

Laura Aviles, senior film manager for Bristol City Council responsible for The Bottle Yard Studios & Bristol Film Office, says: “This expansion is big news for Bristol’s film and TV sector. Upping The Bottle Yard’s stage count from eight to 11 at a time when space for filming is at a premium, means we can welcome more of the productions we know are keen to film in Bristol, a city that saw a 225% increase in filming in the first quarter of the current financial year.