Prague’s Old Sewage Cleaning Station is a remarkable filming location, offering producers an uncommon view of the city’s underground. A marvel of early 20th-century industrial architecture, the former waste-water treatment facility is ready and eager to help filmmakers.
And no, it doesn’t smell.
“The entire place has been completely clean for several decades,” says Tomáš Věžník, director of the facility, now a historical landmark and museum. “The water is completely clear.”
The facility has seen a rebirth in recent years as a location for filmmakers. Just last autumn, the site hosted filming on Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Star and producer Tom Cruise was so impressed with the museum that he asked if he could bring his wife and daughter by for a visit..
The cleaning station, a graceful brick building in Prague’s Bubeneč neighborhood, is a rare example of industrial art deco. It began operation in 1901 and remained in service until 1967. During the tourist season, the museum is open to the public when it is not otherwise reserved for film shoots or other events.
Film crews can access an entire kilometer of brick-lined tunnels. The most spacious and interesting portions are 60–100 meters wide and 2.5–10 meters high. The flooded canals, up to six meters deep, can be toured by inflatable raft.
Museum staff can fire up the station’s massive, Breitfield & Daněk steam engines, built in 1903, which dominate the 103 square-meter engine room.
The cleaning station has many other spaces — all of them climate-controlled — including the 330-square-meter main hall with its 16-meter-high ceilings and a period machine shop. There are also modern offices, conference spaces, a kitchen and barrier-free toilets.
Outside, film crews can use a 100-vehicle parking lot; water, sewage and electric hook-ups; and 5,000-square-meter open field.
The cleaning station has hosted nearly 200 film and television projects in the last two decades, including Les Misérables, Blade II, Most Haunted and numerous Czech films and TV series.
The museum is preparing to host two local TV series and a commercial. Museum director Věžník says he is preparing proposals for a Chinese filmmaker as well as for a certain Oscar-winner (whom we won’t name at this point).
If you’re interested in using Prague’s Old Sewage Cleaning Station for your project, please contact us to learn more about the facility or arrange a viewing.
