Oaklands College – Film

Positioned on the edge of the campus, it enables seamless operation for production crews while maintaining strong connections to the wider creative curriculum. Designed as a robust and flexible building, it accommodates a professional sound stage alongside teaching and support spaces, creating opportunities for students to engage directly with industry practices in a real-world environment. 

Forming part of the wider regeneration of Oaklands College’s St Albans campus, once a manor house and former agricultural college, the campus has evolved over time through an assortment of teaching buildings set within its historic grounds. While the college continues to grow and diversify its curriculum, much of the existing estate no longer fully supports contemporary teaching. 

The wider masterplan responds by introducing a series of new buildings alongside landscape improvements that strengthen the campus setting within the Green Belt. New academic facilities are organised around a central college square, helping to create clearer connections between departments and shared student spaces. 

Within this wider framework, the Film Studio provides a dedicated production facility for the College’s creative curriculum. Positioned at the edge of the campus, it allows professional production activity to operate independently while remaining closely connected to related teaching spaces and the wider student community. 

The design adopts a simple and highly functional approach, expressed as a single-storey shed that prioritises performance, flexibility and ease of use. Organised around a central sound stage, supporting spaces are arranged to enable efficient operation and clear separation between public, teaching and production areas. The scheme supports a curriculum that extends beyond media students, enabling cross-disciplinary participation from courses such as construction, electrical installation, catering and make-up. This integrated approach reflects the college’s ambition to create real-world learning environments that prepare students for employment through direct industry engagement. 

Externally, the architecture responds to its context through a contemporary interpretation of the campus’s workshop buildings. Black trapezoidal metal cladding and mesh screening gives the building a robust, industrial character, while the entrance and classroom elements are articulated in contrasting white cladding to provide legibility and identity. 

Subtle graphic elements, including a circular motif referencing the Oaklands “O”, reinforce the building’s connection to the wider campus. 

The Film Studio is designed to accommodate the specific operational needs of production activity without disrupting the day-to-day functioning of the college. Its position adjacent to the loop road allows for direct servicing access, enabling vehicles, trailers and equipment to reach the site independently of pedestrian routes. 

The building’s scale, form and materiality respond to the surrounding workshops and barns, sitting comfortably within the existing context. The low-pitched roof and horizontal emphasis reinforce this relationship, while the adjacent forecourt provides a flexible external space that supports a wide range of production setups.