2023 Fall Issue of Urban Land - 70

Sunset Glenoaks
Studios is the firstof-its-kind
studio
facility to be built in
Southern California in
many years. The new
studio campus is being
developed on 10 acres
and will include seven
soundstages and four
office buildings.
being developed in New York City; Georgia;
Texas; and major cities in Canada, including
Toronto.
In New York City, a massive studio development
is rising in the outer borough of Queens.
The film, television, production, and creative
studio complex is being developed by Wildflower
Ltd., in conjunction with actor Robert
De Niro, his son Raphael, and producer Jane
Rosenthal, and is being designed by renowned
architect Bjarke Ingels' firm BIG. The facility is
to encompass more than 775,000 square feet
(72,000 sq m), and to include 11 soundstages
and a waterfront esplanade that will be open
to the public. Additionally, the building's roof
will incorporate a 150,000-square-foot (13,900
sq m) solar panel array.
The development, dubbed Wildflower Studios,
is located in the bustling Astoria neighborhood
of the borough and will rise seven
stories. " As studios start to be built outside
of LA, space and the need to build vertically
becomes more necessary, " says Adam
Gordon, managing partner at Wildflower Ltd.,
who called the project the world's first vertical
commercial film, television, and creative studio.
Film studios are typically organized side-byside
on large lots, which allows for trucks to
deliver goods and services to each stage. In
dense, urban environments such as New York
70
URBAN LAND FALL 2023
City, however, developers and designers are
forced to build up rather than out.
In designing the complex, BIG organized
the space around what it calls modules.
Within the facility, 11 basic studio modules will
be created that consist of the long-span stage,
vertical transportation, and such production
support spaces as scene shops and dressing
rooms. The modules are situated into twostory
rows that are contained within a single
volume, and a central spine between the two
rows becomes the " bustling heart of activity "
between the stages, Gordon says. One whole
floor of the building will provide office space
for production teams.
Resiliency was an important aspect of the
design. The area where the studio complex is
taking shape has flood risks, so the studio will
be relocated out of the flood zone, keeping
the structures safe and also adding the ability
for trucks to be brought in beneath the building
for easier and more efficient loading.
The move also frees up the street and
sidewalk for the public. In planning the complex's
design, the team behind Wildflower Studios
sought to create seamless connections
between the different spaces inside. Aping the
way the office buildings of today are being
built, Wildflower is prioritizing building users'
experience of the space. " The design aims to
HUD S ON P A CIFIC PROPER TIES
2023 Fall Issue of Urban Land

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