BNP Paribas Asset Management’s alternatives arm, BNPP AM Alts, is moving ahead with a major expansion of the EastEnders studio complex after securing planning approval in December 2025.
Enabling and demolition works have now been completed, clearing the way for main construction to begin on the 16-acre redevelopment site.
Around half of the brownfield site will be transformed into a 266,000 sq ft production campus designed for the high-end television and independent film sector, with the expanded facility expected to become operational in late 2027.
The remainder of the site has recently been upgraded by the BBC, which occupies the studios under a long-term lease and continues to film flagship soap opera EastEnders there.
The redevelopment is intended to strengthen the commercial competitiveness of the studio complex by dramatically increasing production capacity. Plans will more than quadruple existing stage space to around 100,000 sq ft across five sound stages ranging from 16,000 sq ft to 21,000 sq ft each.
The expansion will also deliver new workshops, office accommodation and a café, alongside a 58,000 sq ft Media Hub providing workspace and amenities exclusively for media businesses and industries directly linked to studio production activity.
Paul Serkis, director of studios projects at McLaren Construction, said: “Film and high-end TV production is one of the success stories of the UK economy and there is a real and pressing demand for high quality production space here.
“Approved schemes in the right locations need to come out of the ground quickly to meet that demand and take full advantage of the sector’s growth potential. We are delighted to be working with BNPP AM Alts and Oxygen Studios to deliver Fairbanks Studios.”
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