Investment giant AXA IM Alts has been granted planning permission to redevelop half of the BBC Elstree Centre TV and film studio.

Proposals include transforming current studios and ancillary spaces into 266,000 sq ft of modern media campus for the high-end TV and independent film industry.

The remaining 50% of the 16-acre site was recently upgraded by the BBC, which occupies the site under a long-term lease, primarily to film its flagship drama, EastEnders.

Specialist film and TV studio developer and operator Oxygen Studios has been appointed to advise on the project, with construction planned to start later this year creating 390 jobs.

AXA IM Alts will rebrand the campus as ‘Fairbanks Studios’, reflecting its heritage, having been owned and operated by Hollywood legend Douglas Fairbanks Jr in the 1950s.

Designs by UMC Architects, will significantly expand the site’s production capacity—more than quadrupling the stage space to approximately 100,000 sq ft across five state-of-the-art sound stages, ranging in size from 16,000 to 21,000 sq ft.

The expansion also adds new workshops, offices, a café, base camp, backlot, and improved cycle and parking facilities.

A new ‘Media Hub’ will offer 58,000 sq ft of office and amenity spaces across five storeys, dedicated exclusively to media-related industries and businesses directly connected to the studios.

Designed in a modern Art Deco style, it will serve as a striking landmark that reflects and celebrates the studio’s historic character.