Limehouse Studios

Limehouse Studios was an independently owned television studio complex built in No. 10 Warehouse (30 Shed) of the South Quay Import Dock. This was located at the eastern end of Canary Wharf on the Isle of Dogs in London, which opened in 1983. The building was demolished just six years later, in 1989, to make way for the massive Olympia & York development of Canary Wharf which now occupies the site.

History

The warehouse was built for Fruit Lines Ltd, a subsidiary of Fred Olsen Lines for the Mediterranean and Canary Island fruit trade. At their request, the wharf was given the name Canary Wharf. The company moved to Millwall Docks, in 1970. As one of the first successes of the London Docklands Development Corporation, the studios were housed in the immensely strong converted shell of a disused rum and banana warehouse built in 1952.

Inception

At a cost of about £3.6m, and under the design of Sir Terry Farrell, the warehouse was transformed into The Limehouse Studios; a complex containing two studios of 3,000 square feet (279 m²) and 6,000 square feet (557 m²) with various associated production offices and post-production facilities. The two studios were contained in suspended concrete boxes mounted on independent giant springs to reduce external vibration, which was fitted out to the highest standards.

As one of the then few independent facilities in London, Limehouse was founded by a group of executives from the former ITV franchise holder Southern Television after the company had lost its ITV franchise in 1980 from Television South (TVS). The new studios quickly became the venue of choice for many of the independent production companies now making programmes for the new Channel 4. This was also helped by the popular hospitality boat moored alongside in the dock. Among the many programmes made at the studios at that time were Who Dares Wins (1983–88); Treasure Hunt (1983–89), including a celebrity episode in 1985 where the studio itself was the final "treasure" location; Janet Street-Porter's "yoof tv" series Network 7 (1987); and the first series of Whose Line Is It Anyway? with Clive Anderson in 1989. The studios were also the home for the first nine series of Spitting Image from 1984 to 1989, for ITV.

Relocation & Closure

In 1988, the building was sold to Olympia and York for £25m. Following the purchase, the owners relocated the equipment to the former Lee International Studios at Wembley. The studios were purchased for a reported £5.25 million from Lee International PLC (now the Fountain Studios), with a second smaller studio and post-production facility in the Trocadero in W1. The Limehouse name disappeared when the parent company Trilion collapsed three years later.

External links

• Limehouse Studios unofficial history
• Limehouse Productions profile by the BFI