When Create Studios opens its doors for Heritage Open Days visitors will be able to see how a historic industrial building is being used in the 21st century.

The studio which operates as both a digital video production company, and a social enterprise that runs courses for people, especially youngsters, to learn new digital skills, celebrated its 40th anniversary last year.

It moved into its offices in the refurbished and historic Great Western Railway Carriage Works in London Street just two years ago.

And it is opening up as part of the town’s Heritage Open Days to show how a historic building can help helping forge future industries.

Chief executive Shahina Johnson said: “We want to let people see what we do here, and how we are using this wonderful building.

“We’ve never had our own proper space before moving in here, and  it’s allowing us to do a lot more.”

The ground floor entrance lobby retains the feel of the original industrial works, with plain brick walls and block flooring and huge pillars that are needed to support the roof on the huge open-plan building.

But once you are through Create’s doors its use at the cutting edge of digital technology becomes more obvious.

There are offices, and a space set up for screenings and upstairs on the mezzanine floor there are desks with computers and editing equipment.

Shahina added: “A lot of our team are out, working on projects, including one for Chelsea FC today.

“When visitors come, they’ll be able to see textile banners made as part of a project with community groups called Stitch Yor Story.

“We are starting again with our Sofa Screening events and during Heritage Open Day we will be showing two films by Martin Parry, one about the industrial history of Swindon, Fire & Steel, and one called Men on The Mend, about how the GWR workers incorporated grund0breaking healthcare into their lives, providing a foundation for the NHS.

We also ran a nationwide project called Making my Mark with English heritage  with young people, and visitors will be able to see the films they made for that. They’ve been seen  by more than 100,000 people.”

Either side of Create Studios are areas of the huge Carriageworks used by the Royal Agricultural University, and Oxford and Bath Universities’ joint Sustainable Technologies Creative Hub.

And further along, inside the building is the Workshed, co-working spaces and offices designed for start-ups and new businesses, especially working in digital technologies.

Shahina said: “There is an advantage to being here and being part of the regeneration of this beautiful building and working in the same space with other creative businesses and seeing what they’re doing.

“We  get people from things like the Literature festival coming in to use the space, or Pride, and it’s great that there is this space for people to use.”

After the Heritage Open Days, Create will start up another season of its Sofa Screenings where it shows independent films, in conjunction with the British Film Institute, in the workspaces to an audience seated in comfortable chairs.

Film project lead Louise Norbury said: “It’s a little bit different, it’s a very relaxed way of watching a film and the films will be independent films that would otherwise be hard to see in Swindon.”

Screenings will start on Thursday 26 September at 7pm and the series will continue for 10 weeks.

Create Studios will be open for Heritage Open days from 10am on Saturday, September 7 for people to drop in and look around.

Film screenings will be from 11am to noon and 2.30pm to 3.30pm.

A full programme of events is available at heritageopendays.org.uk and then entering Swindon in the search box.