The company will look to create 39 suites in the building. These will be made up of 28 offline, five online, five audio and two grading suites.
The building will be fully HD and the editing facilities will all be Avid, with the new DX range unveiled earlier this year forming a significant proportion.
A decision has not yet been made about which grading equipment it will buy but the new investment will include provision for a new dark fibre connection across all Evolutions' sites for media sharing.
Evolutions is planning to take on 20 new staff, a move that will increase its workforce to 136.
Explaining his reasons for the expansion, managing director Simon Kanjee said the company needed more space. “We have been turning away and outsourcing work for some time now. It is a lovely big building, 16,000sq ft, which has already been networked and subdivided into good sized suites. It also has big windows and a bar in reception.”
The move means that Evolutions now has five facilities in London. Evolutions bought Nats Post Production in 2006. The opening of the Great Pulteney Street facility will increase Evolutions' total suites by a third.
The building was previously occupied by Sanctuary Post which went into administration in May. Evolutions is purchasing some kit as part of the liquidation process but 75% of the equipment will be new.
Finance director Emmet Byrne said that a combination of good sales and more work created by the closure of other facilities has made the process possible. “Turnover in June has been well beyond our forecasts,” he said. “We have a really strong sales and bookings team in place now. In addition, the closure of other post houses in the market means that there is more work around.”
Kanjee said that 5.1 audio and grading have been growth areas in recent months and that the company is keen to expand its duplication offering. “The new building has an impressive duplication area,” said Kanjee.
The new building will be open for business on 30 June. The other Evolutions sites are in Berners Street, Soho Square, Wells Street and Oxford House.
Confirmed projects to take place at the Great Pulteney Street building include I Own Britain's Best Home series two for Talkback Thames and Wife Swap series 10/11 for RDF Media.
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