ARCHITECTURE
MODERN HOMES
within the development will be named after the famous historic movies, film directors and actors/actresses who worked at the film studios over the decades. The Denham Film Studios site fronts onto the North Orbital Road in Denham, providing easy commuter access into central London. The Laboratories were built in 1936 by film producer Alexander Korda as part of a film-industry complex known as the Denham Film Studios. The main building is 66,740 sqft (circa 6,200 sqm) in size and was designed by Walter Gropius (1883-1969), the world renowned architect who headed the Bauhaus movement in Germany (1919-32). Gropius designed a three storey Art Deco building with crisp white render façade and continuous linear balconies, evoking 1930s Ocean liners. It is one of only three buildings that Gropius designed in the UK before he relocated to the United States. The building was given Grade II listing in 1985. The Denham Film Studios and its main Laboratories building have an exceptionally illustrious history, playing a central role in Hollywood and British movie making for almost 80 years. In 1937 HM Queen Mary visited the recently completed studios and film laboratory, followed in 1938 by HM King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. In 1939 the film studios and laboratories were acquired by the Rank Organisation which owned the rival Pinewood Film Studios in Iver Heath. The Rank Organisation decided to focus all film laboratory work at Denham, but the adjacent Film Studios Lots were closed in 1952 in favour of operations at Pinewood Film Studios. More/
The Film Laboratories are famous for their central role in the production of some of the world’s most memorable movies, television programmes and TV advertisements. In its heyday it was the largest and most advanced film laboratory outside of Hollywood, producing over 500 million feet of film per annum on site, with completed films distributed to cinemas around the world. During the 1930s over 1,200 people were employed at Denham and even into the late 1970s there were some 700 employees at the complex. The Film Laboratories have been used by world famous film directors to process, edit and review their films. They include Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, Michael Winner, Sir Peter Jackson, Alexander Korda, Ewan McGregor and Ridley Scott. Films produced and edited on site include: Goodbye Mr Chips, In which we serve, Brief Encounter, Treasure Island, The Great Escape, Clash of the Titans, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Alien/Aliens, Tommorrow Never Dies, ET, Superman 1,2 & 3, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Full Metal Jacket, GoldenEye, War Horse, Eyes Wide Shut, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall. The 1930s building has an Art Deco stairwell with feature glass block windows, entrance foyer, storage rooms and film processing and editing rooms. One room stored all the original film footage and film scripts for the James Bond films. The top floor contained plush offices for the directors, one originally served as offices for Alexander Korda, the founder of the film studios, and was later the office of James Downer, the Managing Director of Rank Film Laboratories. The director’s
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boardroom table and chairs consisted of furniture from the movie My Fair Lady. In one wing on the ground floor were two plush minicinemas; used to screen film footage to major Hollywood directors. Built in the 1930s and refurbished in the 1970s they were used by directors including Stanley Kubrick, James Bond producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli and Steven Spielberg. Under current plans one of these movie theatres is being retained and restored to create a cinema theatre and club for residents.
Behind the main laboratory building there used to be (between the 1930s to 1960s) a large film water tank (40 metres by 40 metres in size, 4 metres deep), which was filled with water and used for filming movies including Treasure Island (1950), The Cruel Sea (1953) and The Dam Busters (1955). Parts of the movies Treasure Island and Full Metal Jacket were also filmed in the woodland on the site. In the 1990s the film water tank was converted into a large car park. Around the main Grade II listed building and water tank/car park there were once ancillary buildings of mixed style and ages. During WWII the film