The Scottish government has approved, in principle, the first purpose-built film and TV studio in the country which was originally proposed in May 2015.

In addition to the expected studios and stages, the £250m ($311m) development will also feature a data center.

What’s inside

Aerial view of the Pentland Studios project
Aerial view of the Pentland Studios project – PSL Land

Pentland Studios will include two 15,000 sq ft studios, two 20,000 sq ft stages, two stages of 30,000 sq ft, 55,000 sq ft of workshop space, a 50,000 sq ft reception building and an external 45,000 sq ft water-stage, as well as two back lots of nearly 30 acres.

There are also plans for a 28,000 sq ft teaching pavilion, 33,000 sq ft of student residence buildings, a 23,000 sq ft visitor attraction, and a 180 bed hotel.

As for the data center, details are sparse, but in its 2015 announcement PSL Land said that the facility would be 75,000 sq ft and “house essential secure cloud-based file storage systems.” 

Some aspects of the project have changed since then, however. In earlier documents, the data center was marked as being set on 1.23 hectares of land. That has since changed to 1.8 hectares on the approved proposal.

Another document - from 2014, but included with the approved proposal - states that two companies are bidding for the data center site, and that it will be a maximum of two stories.

Located near to the facility will be a satellite up-link “enabling productions to securely transfer or transmit rushes, clips or entire programs for editing and viewing purposes around the globe.”

The site will be powered by a dedicated 100MW gas-fired Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant.

Lights, camera, delayed action

Project developer PSL Land said that it would be “moving forward immediately” with the application for detailed planning permission.

It said in a statement: “Working together with Midlothian Council, PSL hope this next stage will be expedited accordingly, recovering the construction scheduling that will enable delivery of the key Studio operation by late 2018.

“It is anticipated that a detailed schedule to progress the planning application will be agreed with Midlothian Council in the next few weeks, producing a phased timeframe with the Studio, Academy and Energy Centre as the first buildings to be progressed to full planning consent.”

The Scottish government gave its approval in principle after Midlothian Council failed to make a ruling on the application. Ministers also overturned a recommendation from a government reporter to rule against the scheme on environmental grounds.

Ministers said: “Scottish Ministers have carefully considered all the evidence presented by the written submissions and the reporter’s conclusions and recommendations and do not support the reporter’s recommendation to refuse this application.”

“While it is accepted that the proposal is not in accordance with the development plan overall, it is considered that the anticipated significant socio-economic benefits of this specialist mixed use proposal, on a local and national scale outweigh any potential negative consequences to the development plan including loss of greenbelt, localized impacts on amenity and uncertainty around cumulative road and traffic impacts.”