A building that was struck by a tragic fire in 2018 is now being restored to its former glory and turned into a film studios, let’s explore the Littlewoods Liverpool film studios development which is set to transform the city into the Hollywood of the north.
Built in 1938, the building is a Liverpool icon with an incredible back story.
Originally the home of the Littlewood Pools (a precursor to the National Lottery) and during World War II the building was home to a manufacturing plant for parachutes, 5 million manufactured there to be exact.
The building sat empty for decades until it was devastated by a fire in 2018 and now a plan has been put into motion to turn the building into a film studios to rival Pinewood Studios down south.
Bringing a film studios to Liverpool is a genius idea and with all the secrecy around Pinewood, if Littlewoods was to open its doors to public tram tours or similar they’d stand head and shoulders above their southern counterparts when it comes to an inclusive attraction.
Pinewood Studios were linked to having tram tours similar to what you’d see over at Warner Bros, Sony and Paramount in Los Angeles but that plan has been left on the drawing room floor ever since so the time really is perfect for Littlewoods to swoop in there and capitalise on this great opportunity.
Work has officially commenced at the art deco building on Edge Lane with developers Capital & Centric (already working on a project in my hometown Stoke on Trent) working with Liverpool City Council to turn the building into a campus of film and TV studios.
All original existing building features will be kept and regeneration of the original detailing will commence along with the first step of the development which will include the building being stripped and structural integrity to be a key focus ahead of its repurpose and restoration.
Liverpool is now the most filmed city in the UK outside of London with Peaky Blinders using the region for filming recently and you can’t forget The Batman starring Robert Pattison using the iconic Liver Building in Liverpool as a setting in Gotham in the film.
The 20,000 square foot studios would be home to studio support, education facilities, a roof garden and a multi-purpose screening and performance zone, featuring five small format cinema screens, an outdoor performance space and permanent foodhall.
Littlewoods Film Studios in Liverpool could really be a benchmark for something very exciting in the future and we can’t wait to see the finished product and what productions will be attracted to this incredible city in the years to come!
Find out more about the development HERE
