Outdoor STAR TREK BEYOND Set Continues to Grow

July 30, 2015

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That giant outdoor build for STAR TREK BEYOND effects work continues to climb into the Canadian sky, as new photos from our friends in Vancouver have captured an enormous leap in size from our last look at the set.

You can see the initial footprint of the construction site in this aerial photo from May — check out that shipping container in the bottom right for a sense of scale. Since then, the location has bloomed from a bare plywood skeleton to a large structure seen here the other week, and now we have some more shots of what’s going on at the Kent Hangar Field location.

Our spy Bob Glassford was able to capture this image of the set’s evolution, showcasing artificial trees and rocks being adorned to the wooden structure.

The trees and boulders certainly seem reminiscent of the Squamish forest location north of Vancouver, where location filming took place at the end of June. Could this be a planned effects stage to match material already filmed in the Stawamus Chief woods?

Since Bob’s photo was taken a few days ago, there’s been even more change to the KHF build site. Thanks to Chris van Cauwenbergh, we can see that the rolling ‘hills’ of plywood have been coated in topsoil, making the set look more like damaged earth than an artificial structure — and shipping containers have been moved in front of the set to block prying eyes.

There’s also a massive skeletal framework of steel and wood built up around the set — which is still being expanded by crane — as well as additional construction to the side of the ‘broken ground’ build.

Just what is it that they’re building up in Vancouver? The way the ‘ground’ is shaped looks like some sort of impact site, especially with the loads of damaged trees added to the set — maybe some kind of downed space vessel?

It’s still going to take some time to figure out what’s being constructed, as there’s still work to be completed here. But until we know more, speculate away in the comments below!