The Bottle Yard Studios

The Bottle Yard Studios is a British film and television production studio facility in Bristol, South West England. It is the largest dedicated production space in the West of England. As of November 2022, it has offered a total of 11 stages across two sites. History The Bottle Yard Studios' main site is located on Whitchurch Lane, approximately 4 miles south of Bristol city centre. In 2010, the site stood unused after operating for more than 50 years as a former winery and bottling plant. At one time it had housed the full production line for Harvey's Bristol Cream Sherry, run by John Harvey & Sons. The studios opened in 2010 as a partnership initiative with Bristol City Council which owns the studios, transforming the disused industrial space into a busy creative hub for film and TV production with eight stages. In its first year, the studios were estimated to have brought in £8 million in investment into the city of Bristol. In 2021, it was credited with helping achieve about a tripling of drama production in Bristol since 2010. Expansion In 2021, the West of England Combined Authority confirmed an investment of £11.8 million to Bristol City Council for the purchase and redevelopment of industrial property at Hawkfield Business Park, less than half a mile from the original Bottle Yard site, in order to expand the Studios in response to increased production demand. In Summer 2022 it was confirmed that the expansion site would be named TBY2 and would add three additional stages offering 20,000 sq ft, 16,500 sq ft and 7,000 sq ft of clear span, soundproofed build space with maximum heights of 34 ft. TBY2 officially opened in November 2022, increasing the total number of stages offered across the Bottle Yard's two sites from eight to 11. TBY2's power supply is supported by a 1MWp solar array funded by Bristol Energy Cooperative, widely believed to be the biggest community-owned solar rooftop array in the UK. Bristol City Council originally planned to install a 283kWp solar array on the building, but thanks to funding from Bristol Energy Cooperative the final array was over three times larger than the original, consisting of more than 2,000 panels. During peak conditions, when the array produces more energy than the Council-owned facility needs, surplus energy will be ‘sleeved’ to other Council-owned buildings in the city via Bristol's City Leap Sleeved Pool electricity supply model. The innovative project won the Sustainable Initiative award at the 2023 Global Production Awards, presented during Cannes Film Festival. It went on to win the Innovation in Low Carbon Tech award at the Future Leap Sustainable Business Awards n November 2023. Productions References External links Official website "Filming in Bristol" Bristol City Council. Retrieved 1 October 2014. "The Bottle Yard" Bristol Film Office. Retrieved 1 October 2014. "The top British film studios" Televisual. Retrieved 1 October 2014. "The Bottle Yard Studios – from disused warehouses to Disney" Seenit, 9 July 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014. "The Bottle Yard Studios – Bristol’s international hub of film and TV production" Bristol Culture, 31 July 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014. "Bristol film studio's success story" Bristol Post, 6 June 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014. Ribbeck, Mike. "Profile: The Hollywood of Hengrove – Bristol's Bottle Yard Studio" South West Business, 6 June 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014.