Lights, camera, Enfield: how OMA X is putting the borough at the heart of London’s creative industries
Some of the biggest stories seen on our screens are being made in Enfield.
At OMA X Film Studios in Enfield Lock, a former industrial building has been transformed into one of the capital’s most significant film and television production facilities, bringing global productions, creative talent and new economic opportunities into the borough.
Today, OMA describes the 10-acre facility as the biggest film studio inside London. It provides 213,000 sq ft of production space, including six fully soundproofed sound stages, 31,500 sq ft of workshop and support space and up to 27,000 sq ft of production offices.
But its importance to Enfield goes far beyond the size of the building.
OMA X demonstrates what can happen when the right location, private investment, a supportive local authority and a growing industry come together.
And it is helping establish Enfield as a serious destination for London's creative economy.
From industrial building to major film studio.
OMA X occupies 6 Solar Way in Enfield, a large former distribution facility close to Enfield Lock.
Location Collective had already established its first Enfield studio, OMA One, at nearby Mollison Avenue. The company secured that first site in 2019 and converted the former industrial depot during 2020.
The success was immediate.
OMA One secured a full-site production shortly after completion and, with demand for studio space accelerating, Location Collective looked just 700 metres away for its next opportunity. The answer was Solar Way.
Its vast internal spans and exceptional ceiling height offered something increasingly difficult to find within London: enough space to construct large-scale sets for major film and high-end television productions.
Plans for OMA X were announced in May 2021, with the facility opening later that year. Contemporary industry reports described the project as London's largest film studio development, while records of the studios place their opening in autumn 2021. An existing building had been given an entirely new economic life.
10 acres of creative production.
The scale of OMA X gives productions the room to think big.
Today the studio provides:
213,000 sq ft of production, workshop and office space.
154,500 sq ft across six fully soundproofed stages.
Sound stages ranging from approximately 16,500 to 41,000 sq ft.
31,500 sq ft of workshop and support space.
Up to 27,000 sq ft of production offices.
94,000 sq ft of secure yard space.
A 10-acre overall site.
A location around one mile from the M25 and approximately 14 miles from central London.
That combination of scale and connectivity is important.
Productions can access London's established pool of creative talent while having the physical space needed to build sets, house production teams, store props and costumes and manage the considerable logistics involved in creating major film and television.
Made in Enfield. Watched around the world.
The productions associated with OMA Studio Group demonstrate the calibre of work being attracted to Enfield.
Credits across its studios include acclaimed television series such as Slow Horses, Silo, Invasion, The Essex Serpent, Bad Sisters, Trying, Suspicion and Liaison, alongside Netflix film The Strays. More recent work includes further seasons of Slow Horses and Silo, Man vs Baby and War.
And it isn't only film and television.
OMA's production credits extend into advertising, branded content and music, with projects connected to brands and artists including Nike, McDonald's, Sky, Fortnite, Central Cee, PinkPantheress, Zara Larsson and Olivia Dean.
That gives Enfield a direct connection to a global content industry.
A series watched on Apple TV+. An international advertising campaign. A music film viewed millions of times online.
Behind them can be stages, workshops and production teams based right here in Enfield.
A creative industry is much bigger than the camera.
The economic opportunity created by a major film studio reaches far beyond actors, directors and camera crews.
Productions require an extraordinary range of skills and businesses.
Set designers and builders.
Carpenters and metalworkers.
Painters and scenic artists.
Costume makers and stylists.
Hair and make-up teams.
Lighting technicians and electricians.
Sound engineers.
Camera and grip crews.
Production managers and coordinators.
Props teams.
Location specialists.
Drivers and transport providers.
Security, cleaning and facilities teams.
Caterers.
Digital specialists.
Editors, visual-effects artists and other post-production talent.
That makes film and television an industry capable of creating opportunities across both highly specialised creative disciplines and practical technical trades.
It also creates opportunities for freelancers, SMEs and suppliers that may never consider themselves part of the film industry until a production needs precisely what they provide.
What does OMA X mean for jobs?
The nature of film and television production means employment does not operate like a conventional factory or office.
A relatively small permanent studio team supports facilities that can accommodate much larger production workforces moving in and out as programmes and films are commissioned and produced.
For that reason, there is not a reliable published figure for a fixed number of permanent jobs created by OMA X alone.
But the employment impact is significant.
OMA Studio Group says that OMA One and OMA X have created hundreds of local employment opportunities during their first six years in Enfield, while helping to create pathways for people into the film and television industries.
That distinction matters.
The opportunity isn't simply the number of people employed to operate the building.
It is the ecosystem of productions, freelancers, specialist contractors, suppliers and supporting businesses that the studio brings into Enfield.
The role Enfield Council played.
OMA X is also a good example of what successful inward investment partnership can look like. This wasn't a studio built and funded by Enfield Council.
OMA Studio Group confirms that its studio projects are independently funded.
Instead, the Council played the role of enabler.
Location Collective publicly described Enfield Council as highly supportive of its plans, while the Council said at the time that it had worked closely with the company to make the vision a reality.
The redevelopment of 6 Solar Way into film studio accommodation was delivered by property owner Goodman for Location Collective under planning permission granted by Enfield Council.
Importantly, this was not happening in isolation.
The Council had already identified the opportunity to attract new sectors and higher-quality employment into Enfield. Its economic development work specifically recognised inward investment and new industries as part of the route towards growing the local economy.
Film and television was becoming one of those industries.
By 2022, Council records identified five film and television investors operating within the borough, including OMA One, OMA X and other major production facilities.
OMA X therefore represents more than an individual planning decision.
It is part of a wider shift in Enfield's economy.
Creating a creative cluster.
Clusters matter. One studio can attract a production.
Several studios, specialist workspaces, skilled people and supporting businesses can begin to create an industry.
That is where Enfield's opportunity becomes particularly interesting.
OMA X sits close to OMA One, while OMA Studio Group has subsequently added dedicated production office and storage facilities elsewhere in Enfield.
Elsewhere in the borough, film and television investment has formed part of the emerging creative economy around Meridian Water.
And nearby Building BloQs provides professional workspace, machinery and facilities for makers working across areas including wood, metal, engineering, digital fabrication, paint finishing and fashion — many of the same skills required by the screen industries. The facility has capacity to support up to 1,000 makers and creators.
Put those pieces together and a much larger opportunity begins to emerge.
Film studios create demand.
Makers and suppliers provide skills.
Productions create work.
Training creates routes into the industry.
And successful productions strengthen Enfield's reputation as somewhere creative businesses want to be.
Giving industrial buildings a new purpose.
OMA X also demonstrates something important about the future of employment space.
Growth doesn't always require starting again.
OMA Studio Group's model is based on transforming existing buildings approaching the end of their previous economic life into high-specification studio facilities.
The company argues that this approach can reduce construction costs while avoiding some of the embodied carbon associated with completely new buildings. Its studios operate using grid electricity supplied from renewable sources, rather than relying on generators.
At Solar Way, a building created for distribution has become infrastructure for the creative economy.
That is adaptability in action.
And for a borough with one of London's largest concentrations of industrial and employment land, it demonstrates how existing assets can respond to changing sectors and new forms of demand.
Why Enfield?
The decision to establish not one, but a cluster of OMA facilities in Enfield says something important about the borough's proposition.
Space. Connectivity. London access. A strong workforce. Industrial infrastructure. And a Council prepared to work with businesses that want to invest.
OMA X is close to the M25 while remaining within London. Central London is around 25 minutes away by direct train from nearby stations. Productions have access to the capital's global talent base without sacrificing the space required for modern film and television production.
Those same fundamentals matter to many other sectors too.
The businesses may change.
Their requirements may be different.
But the principle remains the same: understand what an investor needs, recognise the assets Enfield can offer and work together to turn an opportunity into something deliverable.
The opportunity beyond the studio gates.
The next stage is ensuring that the presence of major creative businesses translates into even greater opportunities for Enfield's people.
That means connecting residents with careers.
Connecting colleges and training providers with employers.
Helping local businesses enter production supply chains.
Creating spaces where new creative businesses can establish themselves and grow.
And encouraging the next generation of producers, designers, filmmakers, makers, technicians and entrepreneurs to see an international creative industry operating on their doorstep.
Enfield's creative economy doesn't need to sit behind studio walls.
It can reach across the borough.
This is what investment can unlock.
OMA X is a powerful example of what we mean when we talk about growth.
A major private-sector investor recognised an opportunity. An existing industrial asset was reimagined. The Council helped create the conditions for investment. A new economic use was established. Global productions arrived.
And new routes into one of London's most dynamic industries began to emerge.
That is the type of partnership Enfield wants more of.
Partners with ideas.
Partners that recognise opportunity.
Partners prepared to invest for the long term.
And partners that can create jobs, skills, innovation and wider value for the communities around them.
There is space to make things happen here.
OMA X is already showing what is possible.
For more information on OMA X, visit: https://www.omastudiogroup.com/oma-studio-x/
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