Media, Journalism and English Facilities
Our cutting-edge facilities, including the largest University TV studio, are housed within a purpose-built Media Centre at The Parkside Building, part of our City Centre Campus.
There are four TV studios within the Media Centre. Three of the studios are able to do live multi-camera production and all studios (TV and radio) can be interconnected. It’s taken 22km of wire to make that happen! The Media Centre is fully digital and can be hired for commercial use.
Studio A
At over 2000sq ft and three stories high, Studio A’s TV floor is the largest of any university studio in the UK. Studio A could easily accommodate shows like ‘Deal or no Deal’, ‘Blue Peter’, ‘The One Show’, ‘Watchdog’ and ‘Newsnight’ to name but a few.
Studio A gallery
Studio A’s Gallery Suite is where production, lighting, camera control, graphics and Autocue are controlled. Sony Broadcast have supported us in the development of the Media Centre, meaning we have broadcast-standard Sony monitors and three of their new full-HD digital vision mixing desks– some of the first examples in the UK.
Studio B
Studio B is a green screen studio for recording material that will then have CGI (computer-generated imagery) added to form the final image. We are the only University in the country to have the BOLT JR+ which our Film and Media students can utilise for high-scale productions.
Studio C
Studio C is 1900sq ft, and has a separate production and sound gallery on the same floor. Like all the studios, it is built as a box within a box (to enhance the acoustics for sound recording) and the lighting has been designed so that staff and students will not have to work at height to change the lighting design, this is done through the use of lights and bars which are moved across the grid by poles.
Hires and Loans
Hires and Loans boasts a large range of high end cameras for filming and photographing, that you are able to book out for creating projects. The room is staffed by our friendly technicians, who are always on hand to help with any technical queries.
Radio studios
Our Parkside building boasts six radio studios, fully equipped with everything needed to go live on air and record podcasts. All of our studios have been acoustically designed to provide ideal recording environments for both live and pre-recorded audio production and are fully soundproofed.
A comfortable reception lounge just outside the studios provides an ideal space for meeting and briefing guests and talent.
The Hive
Our Curzon building boasts an innovative lecture theatre called The Hive that features group activity seating, integrated technology and excellent sight lines.
Curzon library and study spaces
Curzon Library is our biggest library, with two floors of books, journals and AV resources supporting the faculties of Business, Law and Social Sciences, Arts, Design and Media (including the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire), and Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment.
DaVinci Suite
Parkside has four fully professional standard edit suites, based on the industry-standard Avid editing system, which is used in almost all films and the majority of UK television. Though all of the suites can edit, two of the suites are specialised for Audio Finishing and Colour Grading.
Journalism room
P010 is the home of our Journalism and Sports Journalism courses.