LONDON — Soho-based sound design and audio facility Factory (www.factory.uk.com) has expanded its offerings with the addition of two new studios, including one of the area’s first Dolby Atmos-certified mix rooms for commercials & trailers. Acoustic consultancy White Mark Ltd. (www.whitemark.com) was called on to handle the design of both rooms, marking the fourth time the design firm has worked with the studio.
Established in 1997, the Factory Family Group offers audio and visual production services to the film, television, radio, advertising and music industries. The Group comprises four divisions: Factory, which offers sound design and audio facilities; Siren, which offers music composition and supervision; Texture, handling design and video production; and Honey, which provides voice production and audio project management services
"White Mark was instrumental in designing our existing studios, which have proved to be a great success," says Ben Firth, Factory's head of technical support/sound engineer. "We have always been very happy with the service White Mark provides, and their knowledge of designing world-class studios is invaluable."
Studio 5
The new studio space comes though a lease of neighboring space. “This allowed us to expand whilst keeping Texture onsite,” explains Firth. “Our fourth floor now extends across two buildings — our original premises in Margaret Street and the new space in Great Portland Street."
The studio that was originally on the fourth floor of Margaret Street has been refurbished into a much bigger space and renamed Studio 5. It is designed for 5.1 Surround Sound projects and incorporates a new live room. On the same floor, White Mark designed Factory's new Dolby Atmos-Certified Studio 4.
"Since Dolby Atmos was premiered back in 2012, we have seen growing demand for the format in cinema theatres around the world," Firth says. "It is rapidly becoming the standard mixing format for all major film releases and more cinemas are embracing the technology."