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The Flash movie cover Movie Locations Guide

Where was The Flash filmed?

2014

City Locations

Vancouver, British Columbia

Location Types

American/City

Location Styles

Anywhere America/City/Contemporary/Futuristic

About The Flash

Based on the DC comics, The Flash TV show follows the adventures of Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) who is a CSI Investigator for the Central City Police Department. So far, so normal, right? Well after Barry is struck by lightning, sits in a coma for nine months, he wakes up and discovers he has the power of super speed. Here we go.

He soon takes to the streets of Central City and starts fighting crime as The Flash. With the help of his childhood best friend/love interest Iris (Candice Patton), his suit designer and tech guy Cisco (Carlos Valdez), on/off no-nonsense scientist and mentor Dr. Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh), and Iris’ dad and police officer Joe West (Jesse L. Martin), Barry soon has a lock on the city’s crime.

Of course, whenever any superhero starts making a name for themselves and clearing up a city, more and more criminals and other superpowered beings called meta-humans come out of the woodwork. Quickly Barry finds himself out of his element and in far too deep.

As the seasons go on, the villains get worse, Barry gets stronger and the science gets more and more baffling. With crossovers with other DC TV shows, such as Arrow, it quickly became a fan-favorite, with many lobbying for Grant Gustin to take over the movie version of The Flash character.

After all, with 184 episodes so far and more in production, it’s one of DC’s more successful projects. So, what trials and tribulations are Barry and the gang going to be put through in the next season? Well, we’ll just have to wait and watch along when it comes out!

The Flash Locations

As with a lot of modern productions, especially TV shows, The Flash production team headed up to the Hollywood of the North, Vancouver, to bring Central City to life. Thanks to its ridiculously good benefits for film crews and studios and the cheaper rate compared to Los Angeles, Vancouver doubles up for so many productions nowadays.

There’s a really good mix of studio-based sets and real-life iconic locations that make up The Flash’s filming locations, so if you’re looking to head up to Vancouver and you’re a fan of the DC TV universe, you’re in for a treat.

One of the only things that isn’t in British Columbia that’s frequently used in the show is the aerial shot of Central City. It shows a river with multiple bridges. This isn’t Vancouver, it’s actually Portland, Oregon, so a little shout out to that slice of Portlandia in Central City!

Okay, let’s dive in and find out where those iconic Flash scenes are filmed and how you can visit.

Iris meets The Flash scene in The Flash

Belkin House

Pretty early on in the series, Barry realizes that he can’t tell everyone about his secret alter-ego, especially his best friend Iris. Her dad, who knows that Barry is The Flash, made him promise not to involve her in that part of his life.

Iris, however, is a wannabe blogger and has started to write about “The Streak”, an early nickname for The Flash. To stop further damage or risk to Iris, The Flash pays her a visit on the rooftop of the coffee shop where she works and hangs out. Jitters.

The Flash: I need you to stop writing about me.

Iris West: There are a lot of people who need someone like you right now. To know that you're out there. I have so many questions. Where are you from?

The Flash: [speeding down to her] I can't say.

Iris West: Who are you?

The Flash: I can't tell you that, either.

The Jitters rooftop is actually a building called Belkin House on Homer Street in Vancouver. Located in Central Vancouver, Belkin House is now home to the massive Salvation Army homeless shelter. Vancouver, like any big city with a high cost of living, has a lot of people who don’t have a home. This place tries to keep as many people safe, warm and healthy as it can.

As such, you can’t really visit here, people live here after all. You can wander past there and look up at the rooftop on your way to or from another Flash filming location. Just a block over, there’s a bus stop served by the 014, 209, 210, 211, and 214 bus routes.

Barry and Iris visit the particle accelerator scene in The Flash

CBC Vancouver Broadcast Centre

In the opening episode of the show, we see Barry before he becomes The Flash. As the giant nerd he is, he wants to see Dr. Wells’ particle accelerator gets turned on. It’s a huge event in the scientific community so he and Iris planned to head to S.T.A.R Labs to see it happen in person.

Iris West: What is so important about this particle accelerator, anyway?

Barry Allen: Harrison Wells' work in quantum theory is light-years ahead of anything they're doing at CERN.

Iris West: You're doing that thing where you're not speaking English.

When they get there, Iris gets her bag stolen, which is not a great start, but leads ultimately to Barry getting struck by lightning.

The S.T.A.R Labs set is actually made up of a few locations, but predominantly the interiors are shot at CBC Vancouver Broadcast Centre on 700 Hamilton Street. This huge studio is located in the heart of downtown and you actually can tour the facilities.

Being in the center of downtown, there are tons of bus stops all around the studios and the Chinatown Metro stop is only a few blocks away.

Barry wakes up and goes to work scene in The Flash

Vancouver City Hall

Once Barry wakes up from his nine month coma and gets freaked out by his new super speed, he tries to shake it off and get back to normal. So, he heads to the Central City Police Station where he works as a CSI Investigator to see the old gang.

Joe West: [at CCPD with Barry] Oh, you scared the hell out of us, kid.

Officer Vukuvich: Yeah, that was quite the nap you took there, babyface, and you still look 12.

Obviously, as it’s Barry’s place of work and predominantly a crime fighting show, the Central City Police Department gets used a lot. In reality, it’s Vancouver City Hall. Located across the bay between the Fairview and Mount Pleasant areas of the city, it’s close to many bus stops and the Broadway-City Hall Metro stop. Have a wander around the halls, or sit in the tranquil park space outside

Caitlin and Ronnie get married scene in The Flash

BC Place Stadium

In a show with so much chaos, death and time loops, it can be hard to find a heartwarming storyline. However, in the season one finale, after Reverse-Flash is beaten out of existence, Ronnie (Robbie Amell) reminds Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) that he proposed to her before the particle accelerator blew up. No time like the present, right?

Dr. Martin Stein (Victor Garber) steps up to officiate, saying: “My father made me become a rabbi before he would send me to MIT. This would be legit as the kids say.”

The wedding takes place outside of S.T.A.R Labs, and the exterior of the place is actually BC Place stadium. As Vancouver’s main stadium and home to the BC Lions football team, it’s a grand building and there are always plenty of events on, whether it’s sports, concerts, and more.

There’s plenty of parking available at the stadium and there is a stop for the 017 and N15 bus routes is just around the corner.

Flash saves a jumper scene in The Flash

Vancouver Central Library

Midway through the first season, we see how Barry has to juggle both sides of his life, and they start to conflict with each other. While he’s out on a date with Linda Park (Melise) he sees that there’s someone threatening to jump off a building. Duty calls.

Detective Eddie Thawne: Sir, please, you have everything to live for.

Jumper: No, I don't.

[the Flash saves him from the building]

Jumper: [suddenly finding himself back on the ground with Eddie] Are you gonna let me go back up there?

Detective Eddie Thawne: No.

This particular Flash scene took place on top of and around Vancouver Central Library, a location that has been used multiple times for different storylines. Located conveniently next to the CBC Studios, you can easily tick off two huge Flash filming locations just steps from each other.

As with the studios, there are plenty of bus routes that stop all around this area, so really you’re spoiled for choice.

Barry and Joe interrogate The Trickster scene in The Flash

Crease Unit (Riverview Hospital)

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Barry has a day job as well as being a superhero. The latest case is a copycat killer of a notorious criminal that’s been behind bars for years. It’s up to Barry and Joe to get to the bottom of the case, and who better to ask than the original Trickster, James Jesse, played by the iconic Mark Hamill.

Joe West: He called himself The Trickster too, just like you.

James Jesse: He is nothing like me, Detective. Nothing!

Joe West: Do you know who he is?

James Jesse: Oh. If I did, I would tell you so you could find him, cut off his head, and throw it right in his face. No, this is obviously the work of a rank amateur at best, a mere pretender angling for my throne.

The gang visits Iron Heights Prison a lot over the years, either for cases, visiting alternate versions of themselves, or for more information. The filming location for the prison is actually, Crease Unit (Riverview Hospital). It’s a disused hospital, so it’s used for a lot of films and TV shows and is super creepy.

Located off the highway between Dartmoor and Port Coquitlam, heading East out of Vancouver, driving is pretty essential, unless you want a long walk from the nearest train station. It’s next to a calming river, so a lot of people say it’s a nice, peaceful spot for lunch.

Conclusion

Nowadays, you don’t get commissioned for almost a decade without a solid and loyal fanbase, a steady cast and crew, and a good stream of fresh ideas. The Flash is hitting all of these vital criteria and more. The fans of the show are super passionate and can often be seen on the comic-con circuit. These aren’t just either fans of the comics or fans of the show, there’s a decent amount that love both, and that’s hard to find with superhero adaptations!

As pretty much everything to do with the show is filmed in Vancouver, you can book a trip and check off tons of The Flash filming locations - there are plenty more than we’ve listed, but it’s a great jumping off point. Since they’re still filming as it stands, you can book a trip and maybe sneak a peek of The Flash actually being shot. Get those first looks before anyone else, and start theorizing new storylines before the production team even wraps.

Of course, if you plan on camping out during filming, remember to be respectful. After all, the longer it takes to film, the longer you’ll have to wait to see the new season!