Film crew hire/London/Studios and set builds
Film studios in London. Stages, coves, daylight lofts and set builds.
London’s stages are mostly away from the centre: in Acton, Ealing, Hayes, Twickenham and Bow. Its cove studios cluster in Park Royal and east London, and for a corporate interview the answer is often a daylight loft in Shoreditch or Battersea, hired by the day. Here’s who has what, which ones publish a price, and how a set gets built, with the crew booked from our office on City Road.
Largest stage · Black Island
16,500 sq ft
Stages · West London Film Studios
10
Stage space · 3 Mills, Bow
75,000 sq ft
Cove by the hour · Bow
from £75
On this page
01 Which kind of space
Stage, cove or daylight loft?
For builds
Sound stage
A big, quiet, empty box for builds: commercials with sets, drama, anything that needs walls you can move. Dukes Island in Acton, 3 Mills in Bow and West London Film Studios in Hayes all list commercials.
For product and fashion
Cove studio
An infinity cove for product, fashion and anything you’ll cut out later. NW10 has the biggest cluster: Park Royal Studios, Klatch and Loft Studios.
For interviews
Daylight loft
A room with windows and character, hired by the day: the kind of space we’ve booked on Hackney Road, in Battersea and in E14 for interviews and brand films.
Worth asking first
For a one- or two-person interview, a studio isn’t always the answer. The client’s own boardroom or a loft says something about the company that a cove can’t. Our guide to London locations and permits is the place to start.
02 Stages
Stages in and around London
The stages a commercial or brand film is most likely to book, from each studio’s own pages, checked October 2026. None of them publishes a day rate.
| Studio | Where | What’s there | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black Island Studios | Alliance Road, Acton · W3 0RA | Six stages, from 2,208 sq ft (Stage 4, a pre-lit green-screen cove) to 16,500 sq ft (Stage 5). All drive-in, with J-shaped canvas cycs and 6.4–9.4m to the gantry. | Panavision group. Panalux lighting and catering on site; 400A on most stages, 200A on Stage 4. |
| Dukes Island Studios | Dukes Road, Western Avenue · W3 0SL | Four stages: White (4,480 sq ft, U-cove), Blue (4,900, U-cove), Green (6,084, L-cove) and Red (1,800, white U-cove). 6.4m to the gantry. | White, Blue and Green are drive-in. White is billed as ideal for commercials and music videos. |
| 3 Mills Studios | Three Mill Lane, Bow · E3 3DU | 75,000 sq ft of stage space across nine stages, plus rehearsal stages and 130+ production offices. | Vehicles go in by Hunt’s Lane, E15 2QD. Unit base and parking on site. |
| Ealing Studios | Ealing Green · W5 5EP | Stages of 14,000 sq ft (a new net-zero stage), 10,000, two of 6,000 and 1,000 sq ft. | Costume and prop stores and make-up rooms on the lot. |
| Twickenham Studios | The Barons, St Margarets · TW1 2AW | Stages, picture and sound post, and a virtual production volume, announced in October 2025. | Lists commercials among its work. |
| West London Film Studios | Springfield Road, Hayes · UB4 0RG | Ten stages, 194,000 sq ft across its Springfield and Parkside sites. | For film, TV and commercials. |
| Elstree Studios | Shenley Road, Borehamwood · WD6 1JG | Stages for film, TV and commercials, “20 minutes from central London”. Its historic stages reopened in October 2025. | Run in partnership with the MBS Group since June 2025. |
For scale, the big drama lots: Pinewood has 30 stages, Shepperton 31 and Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden 30. A one-day brand film rarely needs that much room.
On a stage, the lighting plan sets the bill as much as the floor. Black Island has Panalux on site; elsewhere the gaffer brings the kit or hires it in, with a spark or two to rig it. Our London kit houses guide lists who has what.
03 Coves
Coves and photo studios
For product, fashion and interviews. Most don’t publish a rate; the two that do are on booking sites, not the studios’ own pages. Checked October 2026.
| Studio | Where | The space | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Park Royal Studios | 1 Barretts Green Road · NW10 7AE | Three ground-floor drive-in studios. Studio 5, 105 × 65 ft, has a U-shaped cove, “one of the largest coves in London”; Studio 4, 83 × 47 ft, a U-cove; Studio 3, 95 × 69 ft, none. | On enquiry. Free gated parking and a first-floor restaurant. |
| Klatch Studios | Park Royal · NW10 | Studio 1: an 8 × 8m L-cove, 3.5m high, that you can drive onto, with a built-in green screen. Studio 3: a soundproofed U-cove, 9.3m wide. Studio 2: a black box with a daylight option. | Rate card on request. Three parking spaces for Studio 1, booked ahead. |
| Loft Studios | 77–81 Scrubs Lane · NW10 6QU | Six of its studios have infinity coves; Studio 1’s is 6.49 × 9.89m, with daylight and blackout. Studio 4 lists no cove: 2,722 sq ft of east- and west-facing daylight over two spaces, with a 63A three-phase board. | On enquiry. Lighting, catering and set build in-house. |
| Big Sky Studios | 29–31 Brewery Road · N7 9QH | Eleven spaces from 1,515 to 6,192 sq ft, plus The Roof at 3,430 sq ft. | On enquiry. |
| YoYo Studios | 20 Theydon Road, Clapton · E5 9NY | A 6 × 5m cove in 1,100 sq ft of shooting space, daylight and blackout, on a first floor with a lift. | On enquiry. Polyboards, rails and a hair and make-up station included. |
| MAKE IT Bow | 5 Hancock Road · E3 3DA | A white cyc with a 6.5m curve, 3.75m high. | £75 an hour on weekdays, £100 evenings and weekends, 10% off eight hours or more (Hire Space listing). |
| De Hav Studios | 20 Theydon Road, Hackney · E5 9NY | A 1,200 sq ft “New York style loft”, in the same building as YoYo. | From £125 an hour (Tagvenue listing). |
04 Our bookings
Rooms we’ve booked in London
Not every London shoot needs a studio. These are rooms we’ve booked, and what you’d want to know before booking them.
Hackney Road · E2 8DD · Nov 2024
HIDE and LOFT, Perseverance Works
About 2,000 sq ft of daylight on the top floor of Perseverance Works, for AlTi Tiedemann Global’s interviews with three senior staff on 12 November 2024, 14 cast and crew in all. We booked LOFT, the floor below, as well, to keep noise from downstairs off the sound, and set up the afternoon before.
Havelock Terrace, Battersea · SW8 4AS · Mar 2026
Many Rooms Studios
AlTi’s fireside chat in March 2026, moved here from a podcast studio in Kennington: DOP, sound recordist, gaffer and spark, all under the client’s NDA.
Fawe Street · E14 6PD · Jun 2026
Spratt’s Factory
Often listed alongside studios, it’s a 3,000 sq ft double-height flat over three levels in a converted dog-biscuit factory. We shot a brand launch film here on 8 June 2026, as a full production: the signed hire agreement went back with a copy of our public liability insurance.
Woolwich · SE18 · Jan 2025
Bloc Studios
A sportswear brand’s social spot, shot in the talent’s own studio on the third floor, then a unit move to a café nearby for b-roll. Our gaffer insisted on a spark because of the move.
05 Set builds
Set builds in London
A set build runs in four stages: design, construction, dressing and strike. The art director designs it, set builders and scenic painters make it, the props team dresses it, and the same people take it down and clear the stage.
London’s scenic workshops sit outside the centre. Set2 Construction builds anything from single pieces to full sets, in its own workshop in Edenbridge, Kent, or on site, with Graham Norton and Jonathan Ross among its TV credits. N2 Creative in Erith designs and builds for TV, film, events and exhibitions, and has a commercials portfolio. Artem in Greenford does physical effects, props, models and miniatures, with its own test and shoot space. We found no scenic workshop in Park Royal or Bow that publishes commercials work; the big lots run their own.
Building on a cove? Ask about the floor first. Klatch says some shoots carry a charge for a fresh coat of paint, and asks at booking whether you need one. At Loft Studios, furniture and props left in the studio can be used free of charge.
Through us, an art director is £675–878 a day and a set builder £341–512, before the 10% booking fee and 2% insurance. The rest of the art department is on our props and wardrobe guide.
06 Costs
What a studio day includes, and what costs extra
The rate
Mostly on enquiry. Of the studios on this page, only MAKE IT Bow and De Hav publish a price, and those are on booking sites.
Set-up and strike
Usually extra. At Perseverance Works the afternoon before was built into our deal; quoted on its own, set-up time was charged by the hour.
Evenings and weekends
Dearer where a rate is published: MAKE IT Bow goes from £75 to £100 an hour.
Parking
Varies more than anything else. Park Royal Studios has free, gated parking; Klatch has three spaces for its drive-in studio, booked ahead; Perseverance Works charged for its underground bays, which have a 2m height limit.
Power
Check it against the lighting plan. Black Island’s stages run 400A, Stage 4 200A; Loft’s Studio 4 has a 63A three-phase board; YoYo runs 16A cabling.
Catering
In-house at Loft Studios and Black Island, and a restaurant at Park Royal Studios. In a hired loft, the venue may want to approve the caterer.
Insurance
Every studio wants a public liability certificate. On a crew hire it’s yours, as producer of record; on a full production it’s ours, naming the venue.
Need a studio?
Send the dates, the set-up and how many people. We’ll come back with the right space, the build and the crew, priced line by line. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Quick contact form
07 Questions
Film studios in London: questions
How much does it cost to hire a film studio in London?
Most London studios quote on enquiry rather than publishing a rate. The published prices we found in October 2026 are for small spaces in east London: MAKE IT Bow at £75 an hour on weekdays, and De Hav Studios in Hackney from £125 an hour. Stages at Black Island, 3 Mills or West London Film Studios are quoted by date and stage.
Which London studios have the biggest stages?
West London Film Studios in Hayes has ten stages over 194,000 sq ft, and 3 Mills in Bow 75,000 sq ft of stage space. Black Island’s Stage 5 in Acton is 16,500 sq ft on its own. The big drama lots, Pinewood, Shepperton and Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, have 30 or more stages each.
Where can I find an infinity cove in London?
Most of the coves we checked are in Park Royal and Acton: Park Royal Studios (Studio 5 has a U-shaped cove), Klatch and Loft Studios in NW10, and Dukes Island and Black Island in W3. In east London, YoYo in Clapton has a 6 × 5m cove and MAKE IT Bow a 6.5m white cyc.
Can I drive a vehicle onto a cove?
At some. Klatch’s Studio 1 lets you drive straight onto its L-cove, up to 2.7m high, and every stage at Black Island is drive-in, as are Park Royal Studios’ three ground-floor studios. Ask whether a fresh coat of floor paint is charged afterwards.
Is Spratt’s Factory a studio?
No. It’s a 3,000 sq ft double-height flat over three levels in a converted dog-biscuit factory on Fawe Street, E14, let for small and mid-sized shoots. We shot a brand film there in June 2026.
Can you build a set for a London shoot?
Yes, through us: an art director designs it, set builders make it in their own workshop or on site, and the same team strikes it. London’s scenic builders mostly work from outside the centre, in places like Erith and Edenbridge.
Studio or location for an interview?
For one or two people in London, often a location: the client’s own boardroom, or a daylight loft like HIDE on Hackney Road, gives the film a sense of place a cove can’t. A cove wins for product, fashion and anything you’ll cut out later.
Around the crew
More for London shoots
02
Locations and permits
Borough film services, the Royal Parks, TfL, the private estates and the drone zones.
