TV production spaces
Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Antonio Argibay, AIA
The first article in this two-part series helps you plan TV production areas.
The support spaces are required for the people working on the production so they can come together and do their part in an organized, coherent manner. Two primary groups of people are production staff, who have largely administrative tasks and work in offices, and talent-related personnel, who occupy a variety of rooms, such as wardrobe, green rooms, hair and makeup, rehearsal, and dressing rooms. A third group, the audience, is present in some cases as a requirement or a possibility in the future.
The final consideration on the people side is the need for spaces that support their needs — a place for them to eat conveniently and efficiently in large groups, as well as bathrooms in greater quantity than normally provided for office occupancy. This is because their use is peak-driven. Everybody has a short time to use the facilities, and they need them without delay.
Once you have grasped these requirements for the planned facility, you can begin to plan the desired sizes for the spaces. This is a critical aspect of planning, because every space has a range of sizes. Whether for technical or support, a minimum area is required to perform functions adequately. Variations outside this range are either wasteful, inefficient or, in the worst-case scenario, nonoperational.
The stuff side
The stuff side of the diagram represents all the materials that flow in and out of the studio space. The spaces are characterized primarily by their access to loading, scenery construction or storage, lighting shops (storage and maintenance), grips/cables storage and staging areas. Many times, these areas are provided with electrical vehicles for moving scenery carts and with lifts to access high areas of the studios, requiring parking, charging and maintenance areas. Additionally, the stuff side is operated by people who need support spaces of their own, such as locker rooms, bathrooms and break space.
The stuff spaces require a size analysis in order to determine how much space will be devoted to each function and each production requirement. A telenovela or soap opera is much more scenery-intensive than a sitcom, which is much more scenery-intensive than a talk show; therefore, the staging area must be designed accordingly.
Nonhabitable spaces
Considerations other than those of occupied spaces are the location and relationship of spaces related to the mechanical and electrical systems, which allow the TV studio space (and technical support areas) to function. Their location and size are major considerations in planning the space. The future flexibility of the spaces surrounding the studio, as well as short-term initial cost and functionality, is greatly influenced by a coherent design of the mechanical and electrical systems. It is for this reason that we always install those systems on the level above the studio floor.
Air-conditioning equipment is a key component of a television production facility. Many times in existing facilities, a lack of planning leads to less than optimal installations, resulting in noisy, nonintegrated and wasteful systems that are costly to operate. Our recommendation is always to have this equipment indoors, because rooftop fan-unit equipment is left exposed and is less likely to be maintained. A minimum of 50 percent of the TV studio area should be matched for air-conditioning (100 percent if redundancy is required) and 25 percent for power and lighting. Similar allowances should be made for mechanical and electrical spaces serving technical areas, such as those described above. These facilities need to be far enough away that they are not a source of noise but close enough that they don't require a costly investment in copper and ductwork in order to make your facility function adequately.
Flexibility and permanence
There are many reasons to design facilities that are flexible, such as changing of technology, production techniques and even format. To this end, it is important to realize that a TV studio is permanent, and its flexibility depends on how it is designed and located within the overall facility, whether it is new or existing.
At the core of its design is its size. We recommend that you build the largest possible studio for the production you envision. That being said, here are some average sizes for a one- or two-position studio:
- 3000sq ft to 4000sq ft for news;
- 4000sq ft to 6000sq ft or more for a production shooting at opposite ends of the studio;
- 8000sq ft to 12,500sq ft and larger for a soap opera.
Studio heights will increase proportionally with the size of the studio. A small studio should have a minimum clear height (excluding everything but lighting) of 15ft, a medium studio 25ft and a large studio 35ft. A minimum width of 45ft is recommended for smaller studios and 100ft for larger studios, as this allows shooting to both sides along the long sides of the studio.
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