CoSTAR National Lab opens UK’s first national R&D facility for creative industries at Pinewood Studios

The CoSTAR National Lab based at Pinewood Studios is a place where bold creative ideas will have space to grow. As a national hub for research, innovation and industry collaboration, it will give creative businesses the tools and expertise to develop, test and take new ideas to market. It will help UK companies create, innovate and scale, guide the responsible adoption of AI and other emerging technologies, and strengthen the country’s standing as a world leader in creative technology. 

Four pillars underpin the Lab’s development: creativity, industry, technology and research. Together, they shape a place where artists, businesses, technologists and researchers can work side by side, helping ideas move from concept to reality, enabling them to develop tomorrow’s creative technologies and workflow.

The opening of the CoSTAR Stage marks a significant milestone for both the National Lab and the CoSTAR Network, and one made possible by the contributions of many. With thanks to world-leading industry and research partnerships with institutions including Royal Holloway, University of London, Pinewood Studios, Disguise, BT, Magnopus, University of Surrey, Abertay University and the National Film and Television School, the National Lab now has a physical base in which expertise, facilities, technology and ideas can meet in a melting pot of industry collaboration, research expertise and advanced technologies can come together to drive innovation.  

Bringing together advanced production technologies, AI compute, Media2110 and 5G networking, the CoSTAR Stage is more than a production studio. It is a research and development environment where companies and researchers can experiment with the convergence of technologies, creative disciplines and production workflows. It gives ambitious companies and SMEs from across the UK access to the expertise and infrastructure to develop, test and demonstrate new ideas, tools and techniques that will help shape the future of the creative industries.  

The National Lab’s work spans prototyping projects, open calls, industry collaborations, Creative AI research, virtual production and performance capture, bringing together researchers, creatives and companies from across the UK. 

The opening event on 4 November drew together CoSTAR’s industry and academic partners and key stakeholders from across the UK’s creative industries.  

Guests were able to experience some of the Lab’s new facilities firsthand including a 3D Gaussian Splat demo of the historic Founders Building at Royal Holloway, University of London, the result of research between Abertay and the National Lab’s prototyping team. StarLIGHT allows Gaussian Splat’s to be relit dynamically within a full Unreal Engine 3D scene giving artists more control over the look, development, integration and compositing in real-time. Optimised for Realtime scenarios, it has been released as open-source code for others to build on top of and in an increasingly experiential creative economy where presence, engagement and immersion drive value the toolkit will unlock new creative and commercial possibilities.  

There were also live demonstrations from several companies including Hat Trick, AIMS, Ten24, Black Goblin, Holoedge and MIXD Reality, who all received funding and access to CoSTAR Network Lab facilities and expertise through CoSTAR Access Programmes during 2025 and 2026.  

This week, we launched a CoSTAR Network wide AI for Creativity call aimed at looking to support UK-based companies with projects which move the dial for creative, responsible innovation with AI. There are also a number of other CoSTAR funding and support calls currently open for applications including an Inclusive Multisensory Experience pilot call for UK-based creative companies with immersive experiences or events to explore the use of multisensory elements with audiences and the Creative Intelligence Award for artists and creative practitioners working at the intersection of art and technology. 

Sarah Ellis MBE, Director, CoSTAR National Lab said: 

“Opening our CoSTAR Stage based at Pinewood Studios is a defining moment for the CoSTAR National Lab. We’re putting world-class facilities, specialist expertise and advanced AI compute directly into the hands of the people shaping the future of gaming, TV, film and performance. Just as importantly, we’re committed to developing AI ethically and responsibly, so that the technologies created here support creative talent and earn the trust of the industry and audiences alike.  

“Basing the National Lab at Pinewood, the heart of UK’s globally recognised home of storytelling and filmmaking, means creatives, technologists, researchers and companies can test new ideas in a working production environment, where they have the support they need to grow and develop.”  

Professor Julie Sanders, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Royal Holloway University of London, said:  

"This event was a fantastic opportunity to showcase this phenomenal facility and the potentials it represents, as well as the outstanding innovation and collaboration behind CoSTAR National Lab and the wider CoSTAR network.   

"CoSTAR is an ambitious, purposeful collaboration connecting regional and sector strengths into national infrastructure and opportunity – something that feels truly future-facing. We're enormously proud of the expertise at Royal Holloway that is helping to drive it forwards.  

"Achievements across the CoSTAR Network demonstrate and celebrate what is possible when universities, industry and creative talent work together with a shared ambition to drive innovation, skills and growth. It's incredibly exciting to work with such a range of brilliant partners in shaping the future of the creative industries in the UK, together."