Crown Works Studio would be built on a 33ha brownfield site next to the Northern Spire Bridge on the south bank of the River Wear. It would be the largest film studio in England’s North East, with an internal floor area of 156,000m².

West London-based practice 4D is designing the £450 million ‘world-class’ facility for FulwellCain Studios, a joint venture between international entertainment company Fulwell 73 (which includes actor and TV presenter James Corden among its partners) and private real-estate investment firm Cain International, in partnership with Sunderland City Council.

The architect previously designed Llangollen’s Royal International Pavilion and Greenwich’s Low Carbon Energy Centre, has been established for more than 25 years and says it strives to employ ‘meaningful community engagement’ to ‘deliver equitable, healthy, and resilient spaces’.

Crown Works Studio would include 19 sound stages for filming, with supporting offices for post-production processes such as visual special effects writing, workshops for creating and maintaining the film studios, props, sets and equipment, as well as management offices, a vendors ‘village’ and a training academy.

It would be one of Europe’s largest studio complexes, aiming to spur on creative industries in the North East and ‘put the region on the map as an international centre for broadcast and film production’, according to the developers, providing ‘an iconic landmark which signals the cultural status of [Sunderland] within the UK and abroad’.

The industrial site, flanking the Northern Spire Bridge at the ‘gateway entrance into Sunderland’ was previously used for shipbuilding and repair works in the 19th and 20th centuries, and more recently occupied by Grove Cranes.

FulwellCain Studios said the redevelopment of the site ‘heralds the continued dramatic transformation of Sunderland’s Riverside area and will help act as a catalyst for further regeneration’, contributing to the government’s levelling up agenda.

The new studio would altogether contribute an estimated £336 million GVA to the North East per year, creating 21,000 jobs in total across the UK, including 18,500 new jobs in the region, according to the developers.

This would include around 2,000 construction jobs per year during construction (around 900 on-site 1,100 in the supply chain), and around 2,000 jobs on-site once operational – with an intention to ‘upskill local people’ to create local jobs in Sunderland.

4D Studio architect John Muir described Crown Works Studio as ‘a game changer for the city’, which ‘should be celebrated as such’.

He added: ‘It has been a pleasure to work with both the council and the local consultants in a collaborative and welcoming process to develop a unique and inspired scheme to meet both the client’s aspirations and the needs of the community.’

In a joint statement, the partners at Fulwell 73 – Gabe Turner, Ben Turner, Leo Pearlman, Ben Winston and James Corden – said the studio would ‘put the region on the map as a global production destination’. The name Fulwell 73 is a reference to Sunderland football club.

They added: ‘We are unified in our belief that there is a unique opportunity to bring further high-end production to the UK through this ambitious Sunderland-based studio.’

If Crown Works Studio is granted planning permission, construction is planned to start on site in 2024 with the final phase  completed by 2029.