Looking for a property for new studio - Gold Coast

Hi, Time to give you an update. Thanks for the tips Glenn. All those details are going to be sorted as I get closer to deciding on the exact property. I'll get John Sayer onboard, if he is available, when I get closer to construction. I'm writing my Business plan including plans for the new studio. When I do the numbers and look at buying a 200m sq warhouse for $450,000 or a 140m sq warehouse for $300,000 and both have 2 CR's and a few iso rooms. They both will return the same amount of money. It's hard to justify the more expensive place. It's business. That means that the nice place with all the windows is looking a bit like a luxury. Not as feasible as finding a smaller place. I'm in this for the long haul. I've watched people overspend in this business and end up with nothing. I don't want that to happen to this little black duck. Anyone interested in me posting the business plan when I'm done? Cheers

Well don't all reply at once about seeing my business plan. Ok, Ok. Post my business plan on the recording forum...........BORING!!! Here are the designs I'm putting in my business plan. I'm going to see if I can get a mortgage for the property next to the park. If you believe in the power of prayer now is the time.

Aloha, Nice drum kit. :D :D :D If no one else is interested, would it be possible to get a copy of your business proposal via PM? I"d love to take a look at how you go about presenting this. Aloha 8)

Glenn, I notice you have a ratio/room size chart next to most of the plans you post. Where do you get this from and how does it work? I remember finding a colour chart on room dimension ratios once on this forum but have not been able to find it again? Some help....Link? Ta

http://forum.studiotips.com/viewtopic.php?p=42390#42390 Eric Desart's most excellent treatment on the subject! the numbers you sometimes see on my drawings are copied from my custom ratio sheet but they're based on common ratios - one of about 50 or so but Eric's spreadsheets are much better because they're not restricted to a single set of values but cover many many reasonable choices. there are also some spreadsheets which (I think Prof Cox) display best and 2nd best ratios. Chris Whealy's Control Room spreadsheet has some of this.

Thanks :D

OK I've finished my business plan. Things have changed a lot here in Australia in the last few weeks. Interest rates have gone up twice and the commercial bond market has completely dried up. Venture capitalists are running for cover or saving there money for something else that I will mention latter. Hence I have changed my tact. Looks like I will not be outlaying $600,000 for a mega studio just now. I have just put an offer in on a two bedroom investment flat. I'll be moving my studio to one of my students who has a warehouse in Burleigh. I'm not sure what to do next? Interest rates are going up very quickly and unemployment is stating to move up too. Looks like Australia did not learn from the US mistake they made 12 months ago. If unemployment keeps going up then I suppose we will see the same thing happening here too. I think that is why the rich Venture Capitalist are waiting for all the sub-prime mortgages to go under so they can get cheap residential investment properties??? But back to my studio. I'm thinking of spending $50,000 on building a small studio in my students warehouse and paying him rent for a few years. Or am I better off trying to find a smaller warehouse that I can buy (80m2) if I'm going to spend that kind of money? I see some of you spend a lot on your studios and still lease, obvious in capital cities were it is just not feasible to buy. Can someone tell me any other financial benefits to leasing??? I just don't want to spend all that dosh building and at the end of the day someone else owns my studio! Cheers

can you get insurance in the event the student loses the warehouse? if not, you might still be OK if you can get enough business to pay off the $50K in a short period of time - i.e. it might be better to take the chance and build up a reputation and if the building lease falls through, take the construction knowledge to a new place (maybe picking up on someone else's misfortunes?) and keep your happy clientèle.

The student, lets call him Kim, has a successful business and owns the warehouse as well as 3 other warehouses in the facility. He will not be moving in the next five years. I agree it would be a good opportunity to build up a reputation and studio construction skills too. The space I have is about 6.5m x 9.5m inside a large open warehouse about 48m x 14m. He has drum practice rooms and band rehearsal rooms (not sound proofed) in this warehouse. I plan on building a besa-brick shell and inside a CR, live room (enough room for my mega kit) and possibly a small amp room. I like tracking vocals in the CR room so I can do with out a vox booth? It's a small space. I may even get away with putting the amp room outside of my Besa-brick fortress? I have a client who used the studio last year who will do the bricking for studio time. Kim can get Besa-bricks at cost price and have them delivered in his truck for free. The rehearsal rooms give me traffic for potential clients. I also like Kim and get on with him. He is a student, so I've always had a professional relationship with him. Here are a couple of ideas.

More? The warehouse is a tin construction on a cement tilt slab. The bands rehears in the open area, drum rooms are in the office space upstairs at the end of the building. Another advantage for me is that I can teach in my studio and when I have the studio booked I can hire an engineer and still teach upstairs. I can also use a room upstairs for all my studio gear until I have finished construction. The space I will be using is the existing loading bay. As long as there is loading access for the bands, I can use up as much of the loading bay as feasible. Here is a basic Layout.

cool. what options would you have to leverage the rehearsal room for bands or other groups (orchestra, choirs) which might want/need a larger space for the recording... i'm thinking then that a window from the live and CR rooms into the band rehearsal space might be useful to consider (use drapes to close them off on each side).

As always, your quick little sketches are better then the ones I spend hours on. 8) This could be a real possibility. Now I'm picturing a few big clouds to go in the open area too. Maybe I could pinch some of those big clear things they have hanging at the Opera House in Sydney? :twisted: There is a fine artist moving into the warehouse too now. It's going to be a very creative place. I just realized. The warehouse space is called BUD (Burleigh Underground Drummers). My studio is called 'Mustard Seed'. So we have the 'Seed' and the 'Bud'. Hmmmmm? Can get a few things out of that? Providential?

sounds smokin' :wink:

I'm wondering why you put the door in in the middle of the wall of the live room? It puts it in line with the CR door. Is that not bad Feng Shui? Seriously! Any Feng Shui experts on this forum? Will I need a window from the live room to the outside? Also I've looked at the Db charts for the different types of 2 leaf wall constructions but can not find Db rates for brick walls. Thanks

the door on the entry would likely have an absorber on it as part of the treatment process so i don't think it matters much except that it does free up other wall space for more long and angled treatments. i think a "typical" brick wall tends to be about STC 45 and then there's a whole bunch of other bits to consider like flanking. leakage, reverberation, and coupling it with a plaster/drywall wall for absorption and finish. here's a reference to an AU article: http://www.australbrick.com.au/national ... erties.php

It is not brick,but concrete block. NRC IR 586 on pdf page 17 in fig 11 shows a 90 mm block 115 air gap with insulation 90 mm block wall sound transmission loss data. The same document confirms Gulfo's memory of STC. The document shows STC 44. Andre

Hi Guys, I just signed a contract on a residential property. That means I will not be buying a commercial property at this particular time. It looks firm to move my studio to Kim's warehouse and lease. Now we are working out where to aspect the studio inside the available warehouse space? The loading bay is still the best option so far. The bay next door maybe available but maybe partitioned off for a fine artist to hire? If tha artist decides not to go I have the option of using the whole bay? It would be more rent plus more studio to build too? $$$ If the artist moves in it will add a bit more space and another tin wall between the studio and a compressor machine in the adjacent manufacturing area. The Warehouse is made of tin clad and steal frame. It has a gable roof 6m at the edges and nearly 8m in the centre. From frame to frame the building is 12m wide and each bay is 6.5m. The whole area will be 4 bays long or only 3 bays if the artist decides to move in? To Do lIst: First: Work out the studio footprint. Design studio. - 3 phase - HVAC - Live room - Control room - Amp room/whisper room Budget $25,000AUD DIY - so I need to keep it small and manageable. I found from reading thru the linked charts A Vare sent (Thanks) that the difference between a standard 'firecheck' two leaf and a brick and firecheck two leaf is almost the same (brick is little better in the low frequencies). Add green glue to two layers of the firecheck and I believe it will be better than brick??? Do you concur? The tin resonates like thunder. When the compressor is being used next door, on the other side of a tin wall, it is almost louder then standing next to the compressor? At night it is quite as a mouse! Glenn, you have sparked off a great idea. The idea of having the CR available to view the open area is great. We will do this. The open space is hired out once a month to bands to put on shows on a Saturday night. We have decided to offer bands and their guest a Live CD of the night available at the end of the night and priced in with the ticket sales. 3 bands sell 30 tickets each @ $15ea and everyone gets a copy of the night on CD. I think it is good promotion for the studio and a great way for bands that can not afford to do a demo in the studio to get one payed for by their friends. OK. This is usually where most design threads would begin. Well..........Let's begin?

One design using the angled control room to view the open space and stage. The mezzanine above creates a nice club type atmosphere and if we put some windows on the upper level we will have views out over the pacific ocean to the horizon with surfers paradise visible further up the cost(The warehouse is on top of a hill). We have tables and chairs for the mezzanine.

very nice design. just need the bar :-) also, you could do live Internet broadcasts of concerts, DJ competitions, and Australia Band Stand ;-) i think the double firecheck walls should work for you. is steel frame an option? you might get away with single wall ­in some cases using light steel framing

If I put a bar in I would have no money left to build the studio. I'm my best customer. Anyway, it's too much messing around to get the licenses and all that. No alcohol on these premises. But there will be food (not in the CR). DJ comp. Yes! Good idea. This is so much more then just a recording studio design forum. I can also see us moving into Video and having a sound stage, lighting, etc. Eventually soundproofing the whole warehouse. With Warner Bros on the Gold Coast and Disney beginning construction on new studios on the Gold Coast too, it's a hot spot globally for our industry. Interesting about the steal framing? The factory is currently doing window manufacturing. The business is being sold. However all the precision steal cutting and joining equipment is on site for now. Hmmmmmmm? I wonder? Also I was thinking of making the studio modular, so I could move it.....maybe? Anyone ever tried that? Is my budget realistic? $25,000? I'm not sure if I can afford John now? John?..........You there? Can I afford you. The question really is, how much money would I waste if I didn't use you?

Drumdrumdrumdrum wrote:

Also I was thinking of making the studio modular, so I could move it.....maybe? Anyone ever tried that?

Funny you'd bring it up. I've also been thinking about the possibility of modular construction, making it possibly to prefabricating the studio off-site (I'm being influenced by the fact I grew up around prefab wood house/villa factories) and, if there's a dire need, being able to dismantle as an alternative to demolition. That is, as long as the space (outer shell and shelter) is accessible enough, like a warehouse in your case. (I first got the idea when reading the "Building A Studio From The Ground Up" of an article in Sound On Sound.)

BUMP! I had about a dozen questions over the past few posts. Wondering if anyone had any answers? If you look over the last few posts you may see the questions? They are the lines that end in one of these(?)? Or am I being punished for my smarty comments about the red and black gaming room? dahnielson: I checked out a few more topics on portable, kit type, studios. It seems (no pun intended) that once all the chalking is done it becomes very difficult to feasibly move a whole wall or room for that matter. I've conclude that a soundproof, aritight, large, portable studio is not feasible. I look forward to some more advice about my designs. Thanks.

isolation is generally not portable. acoustic treatments can be. will 25K be enough for the size of your project? not likely. it would probably be enough for the CR and a small isobooth, and "maybe" some acoustic treatments in the larger space (consider plywood or plexiglass polys hung from the ceiling). it really depends on how you source your materials. check into recycled materials - block, drywall, framing, insulation, doors etc.

Hi, Thank you to everyone who has helped me out planning a new studio on the Gold Coast here in Australia. I want to particularly thank Glenn (Gullfo). You are an absolute legend. Your consistent responses and helpfulness has been a source of great information for me. After checking out many threads on this site as well as doing a business study of the 27 recording studio here on the Gold Coast I have come to this conclusions. It is not feasible to build another studio on the Gold Coast. I'm quite disappointed. However, I'm glad that I have realized this now rather then building a studio and finding myself measurably in debt sometime in the future. I will still be keeping an eye on many of the threads on this forum, especially Lou's studio. All the best Love Glenn Mortimer