A high shot of Jeanette Kwakye and guests inside the BBC Sport virtual set for Sweden v Poland at Euro 2025. The set is a timber pavilion with a vaulted roof set above Lake Lucerne. In the background we can see mountains. Because it is night time, lights from houses and roads line the edge of the lake. — Jeanette Kwakye presents coverage from the BBC UEFA Womens Euros 2025 virtual set shown with night-time lighting

A low angled shot of Jeanette Kwakye and guests inside the BBC Sport virtual set for Sweden v Poland at Euro 2025. A lareg screen displays Swedens Asllani celebrating scoring a goal.

View of the BBC greenscreen studio at Media City. BBC crew are seen assembling the physical desk. In the foreground is the Jib camera, used for the most dynamic shots from each broadcast.

The physical elements of the BBC's greenscreen studio are shown here - mat, desk and chairs. For testing, a pair of posable mannequins are often used. These have become know as Kylie and Jason.

This is a daytime shot from the BBC's Euro 2025 virtual set. The camera is high so we see more of the lake and mountains in the background. — Gaby Logan presents coverage from the BBC UEFA Womens Euros 2025 virtual set design shown with daytime lighting

Gaby Logan presents during the evening - becuase it's a virtual set, we can make the golden hour last forever, if need be.

The golden hour is nice, but I think I prefer the night time version because all the lights in the buildings in the distance pop and shimmer.

Gaby Logan presents from an exterior postion infront of the pavilion. In reality, she is only a few metres away from her seat, but because it's virtual, we can place her anywhere within the virtual world we have created. — Gaby Logan presenting from a virtual exterior, using the virtual Swiss landscape we created for the BBC's coverage of the UEFA Womens Euros 2025

Sunset over Lake Lucerne This shot was used for the opening piece-to-camera, on the first broadcast.

We have now moved into the downstairs area where there is a large screen for analysis presentations. We can see the Euro's trophy to the left and then there are panels featuring images of the clay Bonmati, created for the animated title sequence.

A view from the rear of the pavilion, looking owards the lake and mountains. This wasn't a shot used in any of the broadcasts, but I wanted to share it because it illustrates the form of the virtual set pavilion, with it's timber structure, and barrel vault roof.

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BBC Sport’s UEFA Women’s Euros 2025 Studio: A Virtual Pavilion with a View

‍For the UEFA Women's Euros 2025, BBC Sport ran a competitive tender process for their tournament coverage. Production company Sunset + Vine selected Lightwell as their design partner to help them win that pitch - developing the virtual studio concept that would form a central part of their proposal to the BBC.

The Brief

The set had to feel genuinely rooted in the host nation Switzerland, work across pre-game build-up, half-time analysis, and post-match wrap-ups, and integrate seamlessly with BBC Sport's existing greenscreen facility at MediaCity in Salford. It also needed to reflect the tournament's visual identity, support multiple presenter positions, and operate flexibly across a full day/night lighting range.

The Design Concept

‍We placed the studio high in the Swiss Alps, inside a contemporary timber pavilion overlooking Lake Lucerne. The structure combines warm timber beams, open glazing, and soft interior lighting - natural materials that give the space a grounded, tactile quality while remaining crisp and modern. The surrounding alpine landscape shifts in light and mood: daytime, golden hour, and night-time versions were all built and available to the production team, giving them editorial flexibility to match the atmosphere of each broadcast moment.

A key design detail connects the set directly to the tournament's visual identity: the light-blue lightbox positioned above the presenters' seated area draws its colour from UEFA's brand palette, while its shape is derived from the tournament logo itself - a form made up of ring segments. It's the kind of detail that viewers may never consciously notice, but which gives the set a coherence and intentionality that you feel.

Multiple Presenter Positions

‍One of the strengths of virtual production is spatial freedom. As well as the main studio position inside the pavilion, we created an exterior position that places presenters in front of the structure with the lake and mountains behind them - a few metres of physical movement in Salford translating into a completely different visual world on screen. A jib camera provided the most dynamic shots, including a high aerial view that reveals the full sweep of the lake and mountains. The opening piece-to-camera on the first broadcast used a sunset shot over Lake Lucerne - a moment that set the tone for the entire tournament's coverage.

Technical Delivery

‍The set was built in Unreal Engine 5.4 and powered by Viz 5, with precise camera tracking enabling the real-time compositing of presenters into the virtual environment. The physical studio elements - desk, chairs, and mat - were assembled and tested at MediaCity using poseable mannequins (known on set as Kylie and Jason) before broadcast. The production ran across the full tournament schedule, covering every group stage match through to the final.

The Result

Winning the pitch was just the beginning. What followed was a studio that feels authentic and aspirational - anchored in Switzerland, responsive to the rhythm of the tournament, and flexible enough to serve every editorial moment from breaking news to in-depth analysis. It's another example of how virtual production, when design-led, can deliver experiences that are visually rich, emotionally resonant, and editorially sharp.

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Client

Sunset + Vine for BBC Sport

Design

Jim Mann, Lightwell
Toby Kalitowski

Studio Integration

BBC Sport

Realtime Engine

Unreal Engine 5.4

Powered by

Viz 5

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Jim and Toby are our trusted partners and they were chosen by Sunset+Vine for Euro 2025 too. This made the workflow and sign-off process great for us, as the relationships are already there.