The Challenge
Big site, big ambitions, huge organisational challenges.
The complexity and vastness of the site meant that there were often considerably different timescales to operate against. Sometimes that would mean a six month period of capturing preparations on site for a specific demolition. Sometimes it meant reacting quickly to a window of opportunity to capture a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ half our of vital work.
Keltbray as the principal contractor (working under instruction of then owner CapCo) were open to ideas we put forward and always extremely accommodating to our time lapse engineers & film crew.
Without the open dialogue & trust shared between us and the access that Keltbray granted, we could not have captured the historic demolition to the level we did.
A specific factor that underpinned many of the challenges to both the demolition itself and our filming of it is owing to the fact that the centre was built over two London Underground lines. As such, Transport for London was another key partner in the success of the demolition.
The Approach
Long term time lapse and frequent filming visits.
Inside Out Group redcorded footage on the site between 2014 and 2017. During that time our team installed as many as six long term time lapse systems simultaneously; collectively providing over 20 individual time lapse angles (over the four years) from a multitude of vantage points.
Also in that time we attended over a dozen days of on-the-ground filming visits, often with multiple crew members in order to cover the vast site more effectively.
Understandably we threw plenty of filming hardware at this project, which when in full PPE and walking up and down external scaffold stairs, wasn’t the easiest to carry!
DSLRs, video cameras, time lapse cameras, tripods and sliders all took the abuse that camera crew gave them; as did the time lapse systems, mounting options and power supplies survive the dusty, weather-beaten site month after month, year after year.
Some key highlights and milestones captured over the demolition project include Bridge 19 demolition, Earls Court ii demolition, Earls Court i roof lowering, the ALSK190 crane erection and the removal of the portal beams, particularly the largest: Beam 31.
The Result
Capturing the end of an era.
Capco sold the site in 2019 due to declining interest after proposals for luxury housing development were abandoned. With the former exhibition centre now demolished and the site secured, it has laid dormant, ready for the next chapter in its story.
From 2025 the future of Earls Court looks to be moving away from frustration and stagnation. The Earls Court Development Company put forward ambitious plans for a 4,500 new homes complex on 40 acres of the site in February 2023. This is a joint venture comprised of majority owners and investors Delancey and Transport for London.
Whatever is to become of the site in years to come we feel proud to have played a role in documenting a perhaps poignant but important era in the site’s history.
Our videos and our other media forms the core of the project case study for Keltbray on their website project page.