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BIG's Wildflower Studios project tops out in Queens

2023-02-28T18:06:00-05:00

Last week marked the topping out ceremony for BIG’s new $600 million Wildflower Studios venture in Astoria, Queens.

Backed by actor Robert De Niro, the project transformed the famous site of the former five-acre Steinway Pianos warehouse into a seven-story and 760,000-square-foot comprehensive multimedia production facility clad in two-toned pre-cast concrete.

It is the first of two film studios now planned for BIG in the New York area, preceding a newly-announced $400 million “vertical village” design to be constructed in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Image credit: SYNOSIS

“The vertical media production village will be home to storytellers working across all mediums — a three-dimensional hub of collaboration, creativity, and innovation,” Ingels said at the project’s announcement last year. “While New York City is no stranger to being the star of many visual stories — the city effectively a character in itself — this first ground-up vertical production stage complex marks a new chapter in the ...

BIG designs $600M film studio with Robert De Niro in Queens, New York

2022-02-15T12:24:00-05:00

Bjarke Ingels Group’s Wildflower Studios has been given the green light for construction in Queens, New York. Designed for the Robert De Niro-led Wildflower Development Group, the new seven-story building will contain a vertical commercial film, television, and creative studio.

Located in Astoria, Queens adjacent to the manufacturing warehouse of the highly-prized Steinway Pianos, the 775,000-square-foot complex will contain 11 main stages, supported by production areas, open and private offices, a fitness room, cafes, and lounges. Externally, the five-acre former industrial plot will contain 310 off-street parking spaces and a waterfront public realm.

Image credit: SYNOSIS

The stages within the building measure 18,000 square feet, with dimensions 150 feet long, 120 feet wide, and 60 feet high. Due to the site’s limited area but generous height allowances, the internal program has been arranged as a vertical film studio with two levels of sound stages, which the team believes to ...