Hackney (UK) based studio complex The Premises is going solar.

Its solar-powered Studio A – the first solar-powered facility in the UK – officially opens in June and marks the final stage of a three-year project to rebuild The Premises’ 14 studios and save them from the developers.

As part of the rebuild, Studio A has been transformed into one of the most advanced recording facilities in the country. The four integrated studio areas take up the entire top floor of one building together with a private roof terrace.

Studio A is the first fully professional solar powered recording studio in the UK and was built using recycled materials where possible. All equipment, including air conditioning, operates on low energy supplies.

The main control room is equipped with an SSL AWS900 analogue workstation locked to a Protools HD system, plus ATC 100SL monitoring.

Studio Director Nathan Hale says: “The idea of a solar powered studio has certainly raised a few eyebrows, but it works brilliantly. We’ve been doing dry runs with bands like Bloc Party and the audio quality is phenomenal. These days more and more music artists are thinking about their ‘carbon footprint’, so it was only a matter of time before a fully fledged eco-studio became a reality.”

The opening of the solar powered studio (on June 30th) co-incides with the 21st birthday of The Premises – started in 1981 as a single practice room for London’s jazz musicians. Over the years the laid-back reputation of the place grew and the number of studios multiplied. Soon it seemed that every great new band was passing through the converted Victorian house, rubbing shoulders with jazz legends like Nina Simone.

These days the complex is used by everyone from Hard Fi and The Magic Numbers to Anastacia and Charlotte Church.

More information about the complex is available at the PremisesStudios site.