Studio carpentry: flats, plinths, risers

By James Jones, founder of Granary Digital · Updated 5 November 2026

Every studio ends up building the same things again and again: a flat, a cyc corner, a podcast table, a lectern, a run of apple boxes. The Woodshop is what happened when our carpenter stopped quoting each one separately and built a standing range you can order like any other product. Below: what is in it, how an order works, and when you need a bespoke build instead.

Why a studio sells carpentry

The barn has an in-house construction team and a stage twenty metres from the workshop. Flats can be pre-built in the workshop and stood up on the stage, so the set is standing before the crew arrives. The repeat pieces became obvious, and they went into the range.

What is in the range

The Woodshop groups its pieces by the job they do.

For risers, start in the conference and stage group: the stage fascia, steps and podium blocks raise people and objects off the floor. Plinths sit in counters and display.

How an order works

There is no warehouse stock. Each piece is cut and framed, then sprayed and finished after you order it. The lead time is shown against every product, so you know the date before you commit.

• Prices are ex-VAT, the way production buyers budget. VAT is added at checkout.
• Larger pieces go by pallet, and you can collect from the barn instead. Delivery is quoted by size and destination.
• Production companies, agencies and hire firms that order regularly can ask for a trade account.

Kits: ordering a whole set at once

Most people are dressing a set by Thursday, not shopping for a plinth. So the range is also sold as six kits, each priced below the sum of its parts and built to match.

• Podcast studio: bookshelf wall, podcast table, host stools and a confidence monitor hide.
• Talking-head set: hard flats, a texture panel, bounce boards and apple boxes.
• Conference stage: stage fascia and steps, a hero lectern, podium blocks and an awards plinth.
• Drama interior: practical door and window flats, textured walls and set dressing.
• Brand activation: wrapped counter, step-and-repeat wall, lit plinths and an archway.
• Product shoot: curved cyc corner, display plinths, bounce boards and a C-stand cart.

A worked example: a talking-head day

Say you are shooting a series against one wall. The talking-head kit gives you hard flats for the wall, a texture panel to stop it looking like a painted partition, bounce boards for fill and apple boxes for seating height and props.

Because the pieces are built to match, the finish is the same across the set. The White Space is a 5.3m by 7.1m cove with 4.5m to the grid, and the barn doors are 2.4m wide and 4.5m high, so a flat on a van comes straight in at ground level.

When the range is not enough

The range covers the pieces that come up constantly. The rest of the time a production needs something specific: a full period interior, a branded hero piece, a set built to a drawing. That is set building.

The clearest example is the cottage interior built on the cove for Channel 4. It took five days to build and dress with a six-person crew. The case study's advice to the next production is to send the art department drawings early, so the carpenters can pre-build flats in the workshop. No standing range covers a dressed cottage with a practical window.

The process is the same for any build:

1. Brief. Reference images, dimensions and dates. A sketch on a napkin has worked before.
2. Quote. Build, materials, stage hire and strike, priced as one job. Small builds start from £600+VAT, and the White Space from £295+VAT for a half day.
3. Build. The team constructs and dresses on the stage, with photos sent as it goes up.
4. Shoot. Your crew walks onto a standing set, and changes happen on the spot.
5. Strike. The set comes down and the stage is clear the next morning.

Mistakes to avoid when ordering

• Reading the lead time last. Check it against your shoot date first.
• Adding up single prices first. If your list matches one of the six kits, check the kit price before you total the individual pieces.
• Forgetting who receives the pallet. A larger piece arrives on a pallet, so someone has to be able to take it off the lorry and move it.
• Treating a range piece as a rigged structure. This is general guidance only. Anything people stand on, or anything fixed overhead, must be assessed for the actual job by a competent person.

For what you can and cannot build on the floor in the barn itself, read building a set in the barn: what's allowed. To buy, go straight to the Woodshop range.

Related guides

• Building a set in the barn: what's allowed
• Prop and set dressing list template
• Art department glossary
• All guides and tools