Studio plans - Iceland

I posted a few ideas a little while ago, but didn't have everything figured out back then. Instead of updating that I decided to post a new thread, since the old one had little or no useful information. So here goes. I'm a folk/blues/polka musician (or something) and also a writer, translator and comedian. I recently moved to a new apartment with a nice (wood) garage that I want to use for my studio/office. I've just finished tearing a bunch of shitty particle board off the walls and ceiling, as well as every last piece of insulation, since it was no good. There's a slight leak in the roof that I'll hopefully get fixed tomorrow, if it's not too cold. The garage measurements: L: 646 cm (21 feet) W: 478 cm (15,6 feet) H: Ranges from 225 cm (7,3 feet) to 255 cm (8,3 feet) Obviously the ceiling is very low at the edge. And that will probably be roughly the ceiling height in my control room (I was thinking of staggering the joists for the CR ceiling to gain as much as I can, and this is a measurement done before the covering was torn down from the ceiling, so it'll probably not be much lower than 222 cm). I'll have to live with that, since I want more height in the live room. For this same reason I can't construct a floor, but I think that would be a mistake anyway, as the garage rests on a concrete foundation that should be more than sufficient for my needs. I'm not overly concerned with isolation from or to the outside, since I live in a quiet neighborhood, and do mostly quiet music. I will be constructing the rooms seperately, but the outside walls are only covered with spare wood and iron, so I'll gain minimal isolation there, and given the construction of it I'd basically have to tear it town in order to improve it, so I'll have to rely solely on the walls I'll build (and they must therefore be all the more solid). I'm mostly concerned with the isolation between the live room and control room, and nice acoustics of course. From time to time I might record acoustic bands in there, so I've tried to keep the live room as big as possible. This space won't only function as a studio (unfortunately). It will be an office for me and my comic associate, and also a guest room (which means pull-out couch in the live room). Unfortunately that means I'll have to leave the windows in the garage, as people need sunshine, and fresh air (and with my budget there's just no way to install a HVAC unit, so windows it must be for now). I do plan to add additional windows on the inside in the future, if the noise leaking out is too much, but I'm not sure it'll be necessary. The garage be my workplace, since I work from home most of the time. That means books. I've puzzled over this a lot, since I understand that the belief that bookshelves make good diffusors is a myth. I thought about constructing a bookcase where each line of small, box shaped shelves would be arranged in a sawtooth pattern, and the rows of teeth then alternate in their direction (sorry, been meaning to draw this up, but haven't had time - hope you understand my drift). I'm not sure, but I'm hoping this would work to a degree as a diffusor. I might even install small doors on each box if that would help. Below is a basic floor plan. It's not 100% accurate, but as close as I can get with my oh so limited Sketchup skills. Not in the plan is a small counter that I plan to install by the driveway door, with a sink (was actually there before). I'll probably build the counter with some cupboards underneath, where the doors will simply be frames with cloth covered, rigid rockwool, and the counter will have a slant. I'm hoping this will eliminate any acoustic problems I might have. But acoustics come later. These are my plans for the frames I'll actually be constructing. I decided not to draw in the outer walls. Here is the sketchup file: http://eyvindurkarlsson.com/img/eyvindur1.skp My budget is not really set... I'll pretty much pay what I need, but try to do it as cheap as possible. I hope I'm not forgetting anything. Please, if anybody sees any huge problems, tell me. I'm hoping to be done with installing new isolation in the garage sometime next week, and hopefully begin framing soon after that. Cheers. ps. Finally got Rod's book! Read it once, just began reading it again. Awesome. If I still have questions after the second read, you're all in for it. Love ya...

I should add that the laminate flooring will obviously be laid in each room independently after the walls are up to avoid flanking. The sketchup looks like it's underneath the walls, but it won't be, of course. Just to clarify. Cheers.

Materials arrive tomorrow! :D I got a GREAT deal. Paying about half of what I expected. Although I still haven't been able to reach the glass place to get a price on those. But wood and isolation will be on my floor tomorrow morning (I'll pick up the sheetrock later, since I don't have space for it). I hope the lack of comments indicate that the design isn't overly flawed, since I'll be starting something tomorrow. Unfortunately, due to terrible weather conditions, I haven't been able to fix the slight leak in the roof, so I'll have to start with something that won't be damaged in case water drips down. Hopefully I'll get a chance to do some concrete work in the other, non-leaky, half of the garage. Anyway, some work will be done. Almost time to move this to the construction forum. Man, I'll never sleep tonight... Too excited!

nice design :-) one thought what about HVAC?

Well, in my neck of the woods that's purely an industrial kinda thing, and therefore extremely expensive. Also, I don't need perfect isolation, as I mainly do quiet stuff and live in an extremely quiet neighborhood. So I'm sticking with the existing windows for air, and if it turns out that doesn't work at all, I'll install second, openable windows inside them. Glad you like my design. I ran into some problems when I was pouring concrete to level out the floor, and then had to go out of town for a couple of days. We managed to bust our stirring drill and blow a fuse that took about an hour to track down in a hardware store, and then I lost my trusted helper. So the floor is only about a third covered... I have some guys coming over on monday to finish the job. My father-in-law suggested putting a 5mm layer of sand over the concrete, electrical floor heating on the sand, plastic and laminate flooring. In each space individually, of course. I think this is an excellent idea. It should dampen the floors a bit, right? Also it'll isolate a bit, heat-wise. Well, hopefully I'll get the pouring done on monday. I have some nice pics as well... Construction thread coming up! ;) Also I hope I'll get a chance to fix the leaky roof soon. Trouble is we're having terrible storms these days. Cheers

töff, hvað er þetta að kosta í íslenskum krónum translation for you non-icelanders, what is this costing in icelandir kronur ;)

Ekki gott að segja ennþá... Ætli þetta fari ekki eitthvað yfir 300.000. Trans: Not really clear yet... Probably a little over 300.000 ISK.