For more than 120 years, West London’s Ealing Studios has been a cornerstone of British film and TV. Now, the world’s oldest continuously operating film studio is entering a new era, completing a $25 million redevelopment that blends its storied Art Deco heritage with state-of-the-art facilities designed for modern high-end production.
A Historic Legacy, a Modern Vision
Founded in 1902, Ealing has long been hallowed ground in British cinema history. It was the birthplace of beloved postwar classics like The Lavender Hill Mob, The Ladykillers and Kind Hearts and Coronets, later hosting BBC hits including Monty Python and Doctor Who. More recently, Downton Abbey, Darkest Hour and Black Mirror carried the Ealing brand into the 21st century.
Filmmaker and producer Barnaby Thompson, whose credits include Wayne’s World and St Trinian’s, first set foot on the lot in 1997 to film Victoria Beckham’s dunking scene for Spice World. Just three years later, he jumped at the chance to buy the storied complex as part of a $12.7 million consortium deal. “The place was charming but dilapidated,” Thompson recalls. “No one had really invested in it since the war.”
That changed in 2022, when Starwood Capital Group, the US-based private equity firm, acquired a majority stake in the site for $61 million and greenlit the $25 million expansion — Ealing’s most ambitious redevelopment in eight decades.
Aerial photograph of Ealing Studios in 2024, mid-construction
The Transformation
The upgrade, led by Glencar Construction with design support from Fairhurst and visual renderings by Charles Roberts Studios, delivers:
A new 14,000 sq. ft. sound stage built to world-leading acoustic standards.
Two new workshop buildings.
Over 34,000 sq. ft. of production office space.
A striking Art Deco–inspired reception hub, designed to complement the Grade II–listed 1930s stages.
Sustainability features targeting Net Zero carbon operation, with BREEAM Outstanding and EPC A+ certifications.
The aim is not just to restore Ealing’s competitive edge but to position it as the UK’s first Net Zero Carbon studio campus.
Timing Amid Industry Shifts
The renovation took place during 18 months of upheaval for the global industry — including the Hollywood strikes, the end of “peak TV,” and steep production pullbacks by streamers and UK broadcasters. According to BFI figures, the number of films made in the UK plummeted from 420 in 2022 to 191 last year, while premium TV productions costing $1.27 million an hour or more dropped from 248 to 191. Overall, the UK market contracted by $2.5 billion between 2022 and 2024.
Still, Thompson calls the timing “lucky.” The closures coincided with the strikes, and now, he says, demand is stabilizing — even if the streamer-fueled frenzy won’t return. “Production is picking up, but not at the same hysteria levels as before,” he notes. “Ealing is booked up until at least mid-2026.”
Balancing Heritage With the Future
The redevelopment is as much about honoring the past as embracing the future. The white Ibstock brick façade and Art Deco flourishes tie the new builds to Ealing’s iconic 1930s stages, while new green features — solar PVs, air-source heat pumps, modular construction and living walls — point toward sustainability goals.
“This project shows we can deliver complex, high-specification schemes in live environments while keeping heritage intact,” said Glencar CEO Eddie McGillycuddy.
Thompson, now 65, sees the revamp as the culmination of a 25-year labor of love. “I’m a filmmaker first and a guardian of the studio second,” he says. “But Ealing is such a part of British heritage and character, it would be foolish to think it ever really belonged to me. I just hope we’ve set it up for the next hundred years.”
Ealing Studios construction, photograph taken earlier this year.
Final rendering of new office interior design.
