The Carnaby Project: Designing the Ultimate Multi-Format Entertainment Hub

In my last post, I shared how a lifetime of ideas for an eco-village finally came to life on paper with a little help from Generative AI. Today, I want to pitch a different dream. This one is close to my heart, deeply rooted in my own passions, and honestly? It might just be a lot more achievable—even if I need to find a serious investor to foot the bill!

If you know me, you know I love the arts, but my real happy place is behind the scenes, pulling the strings to make sure an event runs flawlessly. Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to work across a massive variety of entertainment formats: Radio, TV, Theatre, festivals, and live concerts.

My ultimate dream? To build a purpose-built, state-of-the-art, multi-format entertainment complex. Imagine a single venue housing a traditional theatre, full-scale TV/Film studios, high-end recording spaces, and live radio studios—all connected under one roof.

Here is how the Carnaby Project works.

The Land: An Unconventional Perfect Spot

To build a dream this big, you need serious space. I think I’ve found the exact spot, and while it might sound a bit odd at first, hear me out.

A few years ago, while doing my driving lessons around the local roundabouts, I was taken up to the Carnaby Industrial Estate to get my "sea legs." As we reached the very end of the estate, I noticed a couple of massive plots ripe for development. The site I’ve eye-marked is roughly 170 meters wide by 114 meters deep, coming in at a massive 19,000 square meters.

You might ask why someone would build a major entertainment hub on an industrial estate five miles from the nearest town. The most practical reason is space, as there is simply nowhere else nearby to build on this scale. Furthermore, because it is an industrial zone, we can blast audio late into the night without a single noise complaint from neighbors. The location also comes with a major infrastructure advantage because the site already has multiple high-voltage lines running directly into it. Powering massive lighting rigs and server architecture in a town center is a logistical nightmare, but here, the heavy-duty electrical infrastructure is already waiting.

As an added bonus, the plot is flanked by an access road and features a massive front pond I’d love to keep as a landscape feature. There are also two neighboring plots available for future expansion. It is currently listed as "Price on Request" from the council, so it is safe to say it is currently a bit outside my budget!

The Spaces & Venues

Let’s look past the broad strokes and dive into the specific blueprints of what this complex would actually hold.

The Theatre

You might wonder why we need a traditional theatre if we have dedicated filming studios. There is something magical about a purpose-built theatre space with a proper flying system that is always production-ready. Not only does it save us from reinventing the wheel every time a stage production rolls into town, but when it comes to filming stand-up comedy, intimate gigs, or captured theatre, nothing looks better than a venue designed for it. Plus, I’ve always felt more at home in a theatre than a sterile TV studio.

The Inspiration: I’m modeling the specs on a venue I know intimately: The Spa Theatre in Bridlington. I worked there right after its multi-million-pound refurbishment. They stripped it to the brick, installed fully automated flying systems, replaced the aging dimmers with top-of-the-line ETC gear, and completely overhauled the acoustics.

For the Carnaby Project, I'll be using similar stage dimensions, though scaled down for a smaller, more intimate studio audience. The stage width will be 16 meters including the wings, the stage depth will be 12 meters, and the grid height will sit at 12.5 meters with the fly floor at 6.5 meters.

Because the Spa always suffered from a lack of backstage storage space, I am planning a much larger loading dock on Stage Right to store set pieces when they aren't in use. I am also planning seven dressing rooms and two separate Green Rooms—one for the talent and one specifically for the hard-working tech crew.

The Studio Spaces & Virtual Production

Moving deeper into the complex, we hit the heavy-duty production spaces.

Multi-Purpose TV Studios

I want two identical, large-scale multi-purpose studios capable of handling everything from full TV broadcasts to massive "Roadshow-style" events, concerts, or awards ceremonies. The reason for building two identical spaces comes down to future-proofing. The ultimate goal is to run a 24-hour live broadcast network distributed via YouTube, streaming networks, or platforms like Freely. Having twin studios means we can transition from one live show to the next seamlessly, without a frantic, high-stress set change during a commercial break.

For scale, I’m looking at the dimensions of the Spa's Royal Hall, which is a massive 44 meters wide by 30 meters deep, with a 10.3-meter ceiling height. That gives us plenty of room even if a massive big-band setup rolls into town.

The Virtual Production Stage

Virtual production is revolutionizing the industry, from indie micro-budgets to massive Hollywood blockbusters. By combining high-resolution LED walls or advanced green screens with camera tracking hardware and Unreal Engine, we can render hyper-realistic backgrounds in real-time, moving perfectly with the camera perspective. Having a dedicated environment for this means we can shoot cutting-edge content and teach the technology without interrupting the main broadcast schedules in the other studios. Keep an eye out, as I’ll be doing a deep dive into Virtual Production tech in a future post!

Radio & Recording Suites

Integrated Radio Studios

To support a 24/7 radio station, twin studios are vital for seamless presenter handovers. Furthermore, these won't just be audio booths; both studios will be fully rigged with automated cameras. When a host is live or interviewing a guest, the video feed can be instantly simulcast to YouTube or other live streaming platforms so the audience can see the action.

Professional Recording Studios

There will also be two recording spaces designed to serve a triple purpose. They can operate as standalone music recording studios, act as the tracking rooms for "Live Lounge" style sessions for the radio and TV networks, or be patched directly to the main theatre to provide live music orchestration for stage shows.

The Infrastructure: A True Multi-Format Network

The real magic of the Carnaby Project is how it all talks to each other. In traditional setups, every studio operates as an isolated island. In this building, everything is centralized. All the noisy, heat-generating server racks, central control units, and processing brains will live in a single, climate-controlled Central Apparatus Room. The control rooms and studios themselves will only house quiet control surfaces and monitors.

By utilizing modern AV-over-IP standards, like Dante for audio and SMPTE ST 2110 for video, we radically reduce the amount of copper cabling running through the walls. More importantly, it means any feed can be sent anywhere instantly. Imagine hosting a music festival across the entire complex. With a few clicks on a routing matrix, you can stream Studio 1 to YouTube, broadcast the Theatre audio live over the radio, and project the Virtual Stage onto an LED wall in the lobby simultaneously. In my eyes, this level of flexibility should be standard in every multi-venue space.

Who’s Running the Show?

Here is the best part of the concept. I know my limits: I wouldn't want to manage a commercial venue of this scale day-to-day. I’m a creative and a tech guy at heart, so I’d want to be in the trenches working on the projects inside the venue.

To solve the staffing puzzle, I want to partner with local educational institutions. Colleges and universities are full of students desperate for real-world, hands-on experience in TV production, audio engineering, lighting design, set building, digital graphics, and even event management, accounting, and business administration.

The Carnaby Project could offer a revolutionary hybrid model where students get unparalleled access to industry-standard, top-of-the-line kit from day one, learning in a live environment rather than a simulated classroom. In return, educational institutions gain access to state-of-the-art facilities that exceed standard academic budgets, giving them a massive competitive edge. The project itself benefits from a constant, passionate influx of talent to help run, maintain, and create content for the venues, overseen by professional lecturers and an experienced core administrative team. We could utilize the office spaces and build classrooms, computer labs, and fabrication workshops right above the studios, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem that trains the next generation right here in East Yorkshire.

What Do You Think?

That is the high-level overview of the Carnaby Project. As I continue to brainstorm the precise technical layouts and gear lists for each space, I’ll definitely be writing more about it.

But I want to hear from you. Is this idea completely crazy, or is there a gap in the market for a tech-forward hub like this? What features or pieces of tech would you add to the blueprint? If you have any thoughts, feedback, or ideas on how to make this dream a reality, let me know in the comments of the social post that brought you here.