Barnet is committed to bringing more productions to the borough and is keen to support shoots of any scale. In addition, Barnet has a wide range of versatile locations to offer; from American suburban-looking streets, to wood-panelled halls and assembly rooms, modern offices, a roof terrace with incredible city views, even an empty warehouse and great leisure centre locations. Barnet is very keen to support filming of any scale and level of complexity and welcomes productions to enquire now.
Barnet is a hilly, suburban borough in North London where leafy streets and green spaces are never far away. The borough boasts the second highest tree population in London and has a 200-strong catalogue of parks, nature reserves and open spaces.
A number of high profile productions have made the most of what Barnet has to offer, including EastEnders and Stath Lets Flats on BBC, Temple on Sky One and the incredibly popular Killing Eve, Top Boy and The Crown.
Barnet Film Office provides a one-stop service for managing filming and photography on behalf of the council. The borough is definitively ‘film friendly’ and location managers looking for a variety of locations will find them in Barnet. Locations range from a 10-mile nature trail, regenerated developments and empty warehouses to a period Town Hall built in the early 1900s that features wood-panelled walls, a Chamber Room, Committee rooms and a dramatic staircase.
One of the many benefits of being outside of central London and in Barnet, is the space that the borough can offer productions. Among the selection of location highlights from the borough we have included these stand-outs:
Hendon Town Hall – one of the borough’s jewels, featuring a grand facade that makes it an excellent choice for exteriors. The historical red-brick location was built in 1901 and had its main public areas reopened after refurbishment in mid-2009. The site features a wood-panelled Council Chamber which can double as a courtroom, it has several large meeting rooms, a grand staircase, kitchens and toilets. There is also lift access to all floors.
The newly-refurbished Colindale offices, which are the Barnet Council offices, are made up of several floors of open plan offices, with kitchenettes, modern meeting rooms, two conference rooms on the first floor and an attractive landscaped roof terrace, with wonderful city views that can be accessed for filming. The building also has a canteen, lift areas, toilet facilities, shower rooms and vanity room. The pedestrianised square directly outside is also available and and there are a number of large car parks nearby.
Cardiff House is a large, empty warehouse space with plenty of parking for large technical vehicles. It has empty offices upstairs, goods access and is available at any time with no curfew. Also empty is Nightingale Day Nursery, which has a quaint chalet-style front. This site also had space for technical vehicle parking.
Two of Barnet’s leisure centres have recently been refurbished and offer state-of-the-art facilities, including some great sporting locations. The New Barnet Leisure Centre has two swimming pools, which are available during the day, as well as studios, a gym, changing rooms, outdoor tennis and basketball courts. There is also plenty of easily-accessible parking available. Copthall Leisure Centre has three swimming pools, including a competition pool, a shallower teaching pool and a community pool as well as a viewing platform. It also offers an indoor basketball court, changing facilities with a health centre feel. It also has the potential to be used as a unit base area. Both leisure centre fronts would work well doubling-up as a school or campus building.
The Dollis Valley Estate is on a south facing slope within an area of traditional suburban housing, with excellent views across the adjacent green belt. The estate is comprised of two and three storey houses and five storey blocks of flats and maisonettes. It is available for daytime filming.
There are numerous parks and open spaces in the Borough of Barnet, with the Friary House and Park really standing out. This Edwardian era house is a two-storey period building set in the sprawling and picturesque grounds of Friary Park. The interior of the house is made up of office spaces featuring high ceilings and large period windows, a period staircase and a metal worktop kitchen. Friary Park is a nine hectare formal Edwardian park and includes a children’s playground, tennis courts, a bowling green, a pitch and putt, a skate park and a cafe.
One of the key features Barnet can boast as a shoot location is the sheer variety of architectural styles and street scenes on offer. The borough covers everything from leafy Grade 1 and 2 listed beauties to atmospheric examples of 60’s concrete brutalism. You’ll find classic 1930’s residential closes, low-rise tower blocks and maisonettes, workers cottages, and period council housing with well-tended green spaces. You may be looking for neatly-arranged rows of residential properties complete with privet hedges and net curtains. Or perhaps you need a concrete flyover bridge and alley, or maybe even a Victorian almshouse? Barnet has the depth and variety of architecture on its streets to provide a flexible and inspiring shoot location solutions, with the added incentive of great transport links and its close proximity to central London.
Unit bases to highlight are West Hendon unit base which is a hardstanding area and Brook Farm Open Space which is also a hardstanding space, but has the possibility of adding more space by laying trackway on the green space nearby.
This selection gives you just a taste of the range of unique locations the Borough of Barnet has to offer. For further information and discover more options please contact Barnet Film Office via info@barnetfilmoffice.co.uk or 020 7620 0391.