Aston Group supports Waltham Forest Town Hall transformation for major film production

Working closely with the London Borough of Waltham Forest and the production team, Aston Group delivered specialist electrical and life-safety adaptations to enable the historic civic building to be temporarily re-created as a 1960s office environment for filming.

Preparing the historic venue for filming

Following an initial briefing from the client team at Waltham Forest, Aston Group was tasked with enabling a series of temporary changes across the Town Hall’s first floor, including:

• Safe deactivation of the fire alarm system in agreed zones
• Removal of automatic door closures
• Replacement of modern light fittings with period-style alternatives
• Isolation of non-set lighting
• Enabling production lighting control across the hall

Because the building’s lighting is managed through a ZEN smart control system, Aston Group carried out multiple early-morning investigations to assess compatibility between the proposed period fittings and the existing digital controls.

The team confirmed that maintaining full laptop-based control would require extensive driver replacement and recommissioning. To avoid disruption to the Town Hall’s permanent systems, the production elected to use independent Bluetooth lighting for filming effects — preserving the integrity of the building’s infrastructure.

Rapid mobilisation and on-site delivery

With filming confirmed only days in advance, Aston Group mobilised over the weekend to remove existing corridor and wall-mounted fittings and install the supplied period replacements. A full lighting check with the production team followed the next morning to confirm functionality.

On the filming day itself, Aston Group engineers were on site from 5:00am to:

• Isolate selected lighting zones via the smart control system
• Disable presence sensors in filming areas
• Remove emergency exit sign glasses where required
• Support fire alarm isolation in coordination with the specialist contractor

During filming, around 120–150 cast and crew were present. Smoke effects used to recreate the 1960s office atmosphere required full fire alarm isolation from the first floor upwards in line with the agreed safety plan.

Restoring the Town Hall to normal operation

Despite filming overrunning into late afternoon, Aston Group reinstated all lighting, controls and safety systems immediately following set clearance. Full operational testing confirmed the Town Hall was returned to normal use the same day.

The London Borough of Waltham Forest praised the team’s flexibility, technical expertise and efficient delivery under a demanding programme.

Aston Group continues to support public-sector clients in adapting complex civic and heritage buildings for specialist uses — while protecting safety, compliance and building integrity at every stage.