Swindon's Sandstorm film studio plans expansion

Swindon’s Sandstorm Films, a film studio working with Netflix, Disney, and Xbox, is planning to build an on-site accommodation for actors and film crews.

The studio, who currently rely on the accommodation facilities in Swindon Town Centre, has put up an application to build three barns in which the film studio will build rooms of varying sizes.

These barns will have 20 rooms in total between them with room sizes varying from barn to barn. The first barn will hold four double suites, the second will hold eight doubles, and the final barn will hold eight single rooms.

This design is not entirely new, as Sandstorm applied for a similar development in late 2021 but were refused. The previous project was deemed to by Chiseldon Parish Council and Swindon Borough Council to be ‘’cramped and contrived’’ and would do nothing to ‘’preserve or enhance adjacent listed buildings or their setting’’.

The 20 rooms of the new design is half of the previous designs number. The Film Studio believes that this downsizing resolves the issues in the previous design with cars and parking.

A spokesperson for Sandstorm Films said: ‘’We’ve looked to refine every element of the production process for our clients and now, sadly as no one else has come forward to solve this issue for us, we are looking/forced to build modest sized, luxury accommodation on our site in Badbury to allow our clients to experience the very best side of Swindon and the surrounding area.

“In short, lack of decent local accommodation is now the principal issue stopping clients from coming to Sandstorm Films.”

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