Luke Hull was the production designer for the Andor television series. He worked on the sets for Ferrix, Aldhani, Coruscant, Luthen Rael's gallery, Mon Mothma's embassy, and the Narkina 5 prison.
During production of the Andor television series, executive producer and writer Tony Gilroy decided to first call a production designer because everything in the show had to be designed. He did not want to choose people who are known for working on Star Wars. After Luke Hull finishing working on the Chernobyl series, Gilroy and the crew brought him into the show as the production designer. In November, 2019, Hull was present during the writers' room in New York. Writer Beau Willimon said Hull and executive producer Sanne Wohlenberg helped move the meeting much more quickly, and they contributed by building upon the ideas. Gilroy placed Hull and visual effects supervisor Mohen Leo at the center of what Industrial Light & Magic visual effects supervisor Scott Pritchard called "the brains trust." They were in absolute lock-step, and there was a large amount of trust between Hull, Leo, and Gilroy, which filtered down to Pritchard's team. This left them in a good place when they picked it up. Hull joined Lucasfilm Ltd. in January, 2022.
Hull initially feared having to fit in some sense of a box or that studio involvement would keep him in a certain aesthetic. The crew ended up supporting Hull, and he was excited to work on something different. Gilroy wanted to keep the show as real as possible, and Hull aimed to have the nostalgia of Star Wars as well as a sense of modernity that would make Andor able to compete with current shows so that it would not feel like a piece of history. Hull wanted the scenes to not feel like the audience stepped into a piece of concept art, and he tried to be subtle and nuanced, which he thought made the show interesting. Hull approached the show like a period drama, which included researching the time period and locations. He would then choose what is right for the show, leading to his team asking practical questions such as what the climates and temperatures were like. They talked about what heaters and blinds would look like in Star Wars.
Hull and his team often questioned how they would make the show if it was a movie set in an everyday town. He said the detailed, granular, and character-based writing made him think they had to film the show on location to give it gravitas. Much of the production was practical, and large, intricate sets were built at Pinewood Studios, Coryton, Little Marlow, Portland House, and other locations in England. Hull said location shooting added a layer of depth and reality that cannot always be brought to a set. Filming on location was a main source of inspiration when filling and expanding the show's worlds.
Concept art of the North Steps on Ferrix by Luke Hull
Hull created sketches of the North Steps on Ferrix, the Hotel Rix, Luthen Rael and his ship on Ferrix, Rael and Cassian Andor escaping on a speeder bike, and the Andor household. Hull and Gilroy wanted to design an environment for Ferrix dissimilar to familiar Star Wars locations. They did not want to make the location a town in a desert, and Hull was adamant on not making it a frontier town. Gilroy was fervent on Ferrix having a strong cultural heart, and viewers could understand that the people came together and looked after one another. They decided that Ferrix should be built as a backlot set instead of sound stages. The eight-acre set was built in Little Marlow, and it was designed to feel like a working town with a small community.
Hull's team referenced Amsterdam in the 1920s, which is when the city featured simple geometric and abstract shapes. There was initially no plan to go to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. The crew knew Ferrix needed a big main street, and everything grew off of that. After deciding to build a town, Hull's team worked on finding on overall look that was true to Star Wars but did not feel too dystopian. Hull envisioned a sturdiness to the town due to Ferrix's economy being rooted in salvaging ship parts and metal. He thought Ferrix felt very strong and stoic, and it reminded him of longshoremen in Belfast, Northern Ireland building ships. Hull's team saw the town as starting with a small outpost that gradually grew and expanded out of the hillside as the population increased.
The Ferrix set being constructed in Little Marlow
During planning, Hull's team discussed the computer graphics and VFX and built it into the design. Hull's team decided to build the town of bricks, and Hull kept the bricks' color because he thought the clay and earthiness played into Ferrix's culture. They retrofitted the idea that when Ferrixians died, their ashed were baked into a brick that was put into the town. Hull thought the idea had a very nice and poetic completion to it. When the crew was building Ferrix, they noticed that Martian-like reds kept coming in, so Lanzarote became a good starting place to create the wider environment of Ferrix. Hull managed to make the town look real and grounded, making a set that people have never seen in Star Wars while also making it feel like it fits in the franchise.
Hull focused on textures and details, and he made sure Ferrix was not too cartoon-like and followed rules. Hull and his team tried to make all of the sets earthy and raw. They created 360 environments and added more detail so that the show could follow a character without being limited by the set. The Ferrix sets included palatial homes, high-class brothels, and housing projects. Maarva Andor's house was carefully crafted to explain her character and show that her life is now just her chair. Hull worked on the chair, B2EMO's charging unit, and the hydroponics in the window. He tried to keep the Easter eggs subtle and fit into the show. The Ferrix set managed to impress executive producer Kathleen Kennedy and director Toby Haynes.
The Cruachan Dam was found by Luke Hull and used to film the Aldhani dam.
Hull and his team were intrigued with building the planet Aldhani around the Scottish Highlands. Hull was interested in finding a tangible landscape that could be used as a different version of a planet. He found the Cruachan Dam in Scotland, which was used for filming the Aldhani dam. He felt like the location was perfect because the dam looked like Darth Vader's mask, suggesting that the Galactic Empire has a blight on every landscape. Hull created a sketch of Mon Mothma stepping out of a Senate limousine on Coruscant and the Imperial Bureau of Standards's office on Coruscant. Hull viewed Coruscant as a planet of cities, so he gravitated towards a more Brutalist style of architecture, which showcases bare building materials rather than decorative design. Hull designed Luthen Rael's gallery. The gallery's public space and private area were meant to mirror Mothma's public face and the private woman within her.
Hull had a clear idea on what the Narkina 5 prison should look like: a little bit like a lab and a little bit like an asylum. There was an idea to encapsulate the prisoners in a windowless environment until they go from their cells to the factory field, which would let the audience realize how sinister the prison is. The prison lights were white, ivory, and sickly because Hull and the crew did not want to add too many colors. Hull felt that the prison had a hospital vibe. According to Tony Gilroy, it took Hull and the crew a whole day to build the prison.
Hull created a sketch of Luthen Rael and Vel Sartha watching Cassian Andor stepping out of a ship on Fondor, though the planet was only mentioned in the series. Hull constantly worked with costume designer Michael Wilkinson, and they both talked about color palettes in the show. Wilkinson talked about the cultures, climate, interiors, architecture, materials available to people building the worlds, and their clothing. They worked together to create the embassy used by Mothma. Hull is working on Andor Season Two.