The Bottle Yard Studios has been awarded the 2023 Global Production Award for Best Sustainability Initiative, at a prestigious ceremony that took place last night during the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, France.
The award was made in recognition of the 1MWp community owned rooftop solar array that powers TBY2, the Bristol studios’ new £12m expansion facility, which opened last Autumn. Working in partnership with Bristol City Council’s Energy Services team, and Funded by Bristol Energy Cooperative, the array consists of more than 2,300 PV panels and is believed to be the largest community-owned rooftop array in the UK, and the biggest rooftop PV system in the UK studios sector.
Presented by Screen International, the Global Production Awards were launched this year to celebrate outstanding and sustainable work in the field of film and TV production, locations and studios. They are open to all organisations and companies working in the international film and TV industry including studios. production companies, film commissions, location, suppliers and manufacturers and any services involved in film and TV production.
The Global Production Award follows TBY2’s recent success in receiving the second-highest score out of 12 studios in the first cohort of BAFTA albert’s new Studio Sustainability Standard. It was one of five studios that received a ‘Very Good’ rating, the highest grade achieved in the group. Launched in 2022, the global, voluntary scheme was designed by BAFTA albert alongside global engineering and consulting firm Arup, to help studios measure and reduce the environmental impact of their facilities. Participating studios commit to making year-on-year improvements to their sustainability going forward.
TBY2’s solar array was funded by community-owned enterprise Bristol Energy Cooperative (BEC) and is capable of generating enough energy to power more than 250 average households per year. Bristol City Council, which owns and runs The Bottle Yard, initially planned to install a 283kWp solar array on the new expansion facility, but thanks to funding from BEC, the final array was three times larger than originally planned.
Energy produced at TBY2 will power the facility and over time, surplus energy will be utilised through the Bristol City Leap Sleeved Pool electricity supply model, which connects buildings and ‘sleeves’ energy generated from one to another, reducing energy consumption from non-renewables. BEC’s community ownership model provides a return to its investor members, whilst surplus revenues go back to the local community through grants and investment into more local energy projects. BEC’s current share offer is open until 17 July 2023 and aims to raise a further £1 million to fund more ambitious rooftop solar installations.
Located less than half a mile from the main Bottle Yard site, the £12m TBY2 facility offers three fully soundproofed stages measuring 20,000 sq ft, 16,500 sq ft and 7,000 sq ft, accompanied by 40,000 sq ft of ancillary space. Other sustainable features include a sophisticated building management system that controls built-in heating, cooling and ventilation in all stages whilst optimising energy conservation.
The Bottle Yard Studios is owned and managed by Bristol City Council and backed by West of England Combined Authority investment. The opening of TBY2 last Autumn increased the total number of stages across The Bottle Yard’s two sites to 11 (154,000 sq ft).
Currently in production at TBY2 are: Disney+ Jilly Cooper drama Rivals, produced by Happy Prince TV (part of ITV Studios) with cast including David Tennant, Alex Hassall, Aidan Turner and Danny Dyer; and series three of Amazon FreeVee spy thriller Alex Rider, produced by Eleventh Hour Films and starring Otto Farrant, Stephen Dillane, Vicky McClure, Brenock O’Connor and Ronkẹ Adekoluejo.
