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2017 – 2026?
(Revised August 2025)
photo thanks to Steve Sharpe
Arborfield Garrison, three miles west of Wokingham in Berkshire, was a large British Army base established in 1904. It was the HQ of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. The studio buildings were previously known as Hazebrouck Barracks and were used to train aircraft technicians, avionics technicians and electronics technicians. The School of Electronic Engineering moved to Arborfield in 1995. This became the Defence College of Aeronautical Engineering in April 2004 and was renamed the School of Army Aeronautical Engineering in 2013. In 2015 they moved to RAF Lyneham, which had ceased to be used as an airbase. The site was sold to Wokingham Borough Council, who released it to developers for building houses, a school, shops and other facilities. Two nature parks are also included in the scheme.
In 2017 it was announced that a section of the barracks that includes some large hanger-type buildings would be turned into a temporary film studio. This will be for 9 years, after which the buildings will be handed back to the developer, Crest Nicholson. The studios are being managed by Oxygen Studios – the same people who ran Longcross Studios before Netflix moved in, which are about 16 miles away. Oxygen now run Fairbanks Studios – the new name for the site previously known as BBC Elstree Centre. They are planning to build 5 sound stages and some workshops and offices on that site which is due to be open from late 2027, coincidentally when these studios will probably have closed.
The first feature film shooting scenes at Arborfield in 2017 was Disney’s Aladdin. (Most of it was filmed at Longcross.) In 2019 Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, starring Forest Whittaker, was made here. Early in 2020 season 2 of The Witcher was due to begin filming here for Netflix. It wrapped in April 2021. A large town set was constructed on one of the back lots but it seems that filming was delayed due to Covid. Season 1 was filmed in Hungary so it’s good to see it now being made in the UK. The Witcher: Blood Origin was also filmed here between August and November 2021. I read that they intended to base the production here for a number of years but I note that in July 2022 the town set had been struck. Seasons 3, 4 and 5 were in fact filmed at Longcross in 2023, 24 and ’25.
I have yet to establish what has been made here since 2021 – can you help?
According to various industry websites, the studio offers 6 stages but in 2024 the studio’s own website is only listing the first three. I assume that stages 4, 5 and 6 are better described as workshops.
This the list:
Stage 1 – 413 x 141ft, with 196ft of the length being 200ft wide. (70,000 sq ft) Height is 37ft
Stage 2 – 216 x 61ft (13,200 sq ft). Height is 26ft
Stage 3 – 117 x 116ft (13,500 sq ft) Height is 29ft
(Stage 4 – 16,000 sq ft. Height is 35ft)
(Stage 5 – 7,100 sq ft. Height is 16ft)
(Stage 6 – 7,300 sq ft. Height is 19ft.)
photo thanks to Arborfield Studios
photo thanks to Arborfield studios
Facilities being offered include extensive space for wardrobe, art dept, construction and props as well as plenty of office space. There are two back lot areas of 90,000 and 50,000 sq ft and ample parking but the planning permission does have some restrictions on filming hours and days.
I’m sure that while the demand for studio space continues, these studios will continue to attract work. Wokingham is a pleasant market town, easily reached from central London by rail from Waterloo or Paddington/Reading or by driving down the M4. The studios are only a 40 minute drive from Heathrow. They are also only a short drive from Shinfield Studios. One could imagine the back lots here being used for a production based at Shinfield, for example.