Film locations, photographic studios and event hire spaces in old industrial buildings have never been more popular. jj Media provides original backdrops for clients ranging from Adele to Dior. And the agency’s new peer-to-peer platform is unlocking a host of new locations too. Here we look at the bigger picture.
Founded in 1987, jj Media has grown from a family business to the largest production services company in the UK. The agency’s sizeable locations portfolio ranges from old churches and theaters to country mansions, ships, and printworks. A particularly impressive industrial site is Wapping Hydraulic Power Station. But jj Media also operate ten studios of their own, totaling 35,000 sq ft and located in a former match factory and an old milliners building, both in the heart of London’s fashionable Shoreditch. The two buildings narrowly escaped destruction during the second world war. A bomb fell on Wimbourne House, the milliners building, piercing the roof and every floor before landing undetonated in the basement.
Acquiring the listed sites, jj Media have taken care to sensitively preserve their original features. Various quirky decorative pieces and vintage furniture and lighting have been individually sourced to suit each space and complement their heritage elements. It was this considered celebration of each building’s authentic characteristics that attracted our team to the former match factory Perseverance Works. It was there that we photographed imagery for the launch issue of Warehouse Home. Where the hum of machinery once filled these buildings, there is now a new creative buzz. 10,000 further spaces are expected to join jj’s portfolio via Connect in its first three months. The future looks snappy.
Built in 1890, Wapping Hydraulic Power Station (above, and left) originally operated using steam but was later converted to use electricity. The station powered machinery across London until its closure in 1977. Today, the towering pump rooms and engine house owned by property developers UK Real Estate Ltd host exhibitions and events booked via jj Media agency.
(Below) At Perseverance Works, the white-painted exposed beams, wooden doors and raw brickwork of the LOFT location are popular with a wide variety of clients looking for heritage features. Meanwhile, as its name suggests. APEX boasts a 20ft high vaulted roof with wooden trusses and original Victorian sash windows. Both venues are filled with an abundance of light. There’s no sign of bomb damage today at Wimbourne House, where the basement SOHO studio is popular with clients hosting press events and is even used as a wedding venue. ROME on the floor above offers stylists attractive red brick walls with the remnants of many years of paintwork. Vintage industrial lockers and other decorative accessories have been specially sourced for the location from vintage fairs and architectural salvage specialists by jj’s director Johnny.
