Revealed: massive scale of €70m film studio project

The mammoth scale of the €70m international film studio being proposed for Westmeath has been made public.

The site of 7.11 hectares for the development is at Lough Sheever Corporate Park in Mullingar, and runs from close to the Lidl Distribution Centre to opposite the Davitt Furniture premises on the Castlepollard Road.

The firm behind the proposal, Hammerlake Studios, has now applied to Westmeath County Council for planning permission, and the details reveal just how significant the plan is and what it could mean for the area, if the council planners give it the go-ahead.

The planning notice states that the proposal is for ‘an international film studio campus’. It is to include ‘an international base for headquarters administration and office space of 10,388 square metres’ in a building for four or five stories.

That is large in itself, but it is only the start of it: the proposal also includes four film and TV studios in two blocks, one of 5,330 square metres and one of 5,068 square metres; and a workshop building for set and prop construction, which would be 5,142 square metres.

There will be parking for close to 300 vehicles – mainly cars, and with space for articulated lorries and motor homes as well.

Hammerlake Studios says the project could generate 300 jobs during construction, and once complete, the studios would employ up to 350 studio crew members.

It said it chose the Lough Sheever site due to the mix of accommodation, catering and business services in the area; and because it is close to Dublin Airport.

According to Hammerlake Studios, there was a spend of €500m in the film, TV drama, documentary, animation sector in 2021, and the sector supports 12,000 jobs.