calling all MODERATORS, others.1st draft final plan.comments

Well my 1st "final plan" is ready yet the snow is still deep (see pix). My wife and I have recently created a non-profit to provide space/experience for young aspiring artists/musicians/video buffs. Our studio in the woods will hopefully provide an alternative to the drugs, early pregnancy, and rampant abuse in our rural area. Our local high school is trying to fund a performing arts center as an adjunct to the school and we hope to partner with them as well. It will likely take another 9-10 years before I can finish this project and give up my day job. To pay the bills, I hope to serve professionals as well. This year's project will be to put up the shell. Of course that has meant a steep learning curve to plan mostly to completion before starting. Here is my plan below, open to all who have suggestions. I'm too close to it at this point and am probably missing some obvious and not so obvious things. Please ask questions and provide comments. We should be breaking ground by mid May!

good first effort! sounds like a cool project. one suggestion though - if you're going to build from scratch - foundation and all - you should really look at what space options you have to ensure you're not cramping up access points - such has the CR airlocks - which in an emergency (as well as general access) can be a problem - esp if you have an idea on commercial use - consider a bathroom, ADA compliance, etc. probably a good idea to sit down with the town building officials and talk things through to make sure you have any of their requirements in hand so you don't get surprised later. if you can build it all on one level, that probably makes things easier as well - a spiral staircase can get tricky... consider separated or floated foundation sections to maximize isolation. i'd add a "reception/waiting" area (next to a bathroom...) so people have a place to sit when not involved in a session, place to hang a coat, get a soft drink etc.

Wow, thanks for the quick reply Glenn :) . Giving me more to chew on.

ensure you're not cramping up access points

The winder staircase goes up to the existing house labled as office/chill which will be locked out to the rest of the house (to the left of the floor plan). There is a bathroom there and I'll have a couch as well as my desk. Folks can hang out here and in the iso room; and maybe I can utilize the main entrance by eliminating some storage space and adding some sitting area and coat racks. I could possibly use the crawl space under the office/chill room for extra storage. I'm putting a fridge there that will have it's face open to the airlock by the control room entry. I'm quite a bit over budget right now and don't see how I can expand spaces without compromising valuable tracking room space. Any ideas are very welcome.

if you can build it all on one level, that probably makes things easier as well

Unfortunately there is no reasonable way to lower the level of the existing office/chill room (rock ledge below crawl space, underpinning of house, etc). It's floor is about 7' above the 34' x 40' addition slabs and attached 8'x14'main entrance slab.

sit down with the town building officials

No prob here :lol: the town manager gave us a permit and said call the code enforcer...code man said no plumbing?on slab?trusses? all set...not even gonna come out to see later! We don't even need an electrical inspection!:o I will be trying to stick with "standard building codes" as much as possible (contractor is a well seasoned builder who I will work with side by side). We don't even need an electrical inspection! Some of the very few benefits of living and building in the woods of northern ME 8)

consider separated or floated foundation sections to maximize isolation[quote] The slabs will all be isolated-6 total. I'm thinking that the exterior tracking room walls will be John's "inside out design" (slot resonators) and the interior walls are yet to be determined. -The control room will be for tracking and mixing (plans for 5.1 hopefully). -AC lines will come in from above -LV in pvc's under the slabs with flex rubber connectors on pvc between slabs to cut flanking -With any luck, the ceiling heights to work with will be 14' (depends upon surface grade and ledge). -Floors will have radiant heat with separate zones for each slab. -Styro blocks filled with concrete will be the exterior walls with stucco for a finish. -Story above studio will be wife's office, studio space for other arts and her import goods web store warehouse (not much noise going on up there and the ceilings of the recording studio will be isolated completely as well) Looking forward to more of your comments as i try to rework what I can.

More pix etc can be see (with any luck) on a web site my wife is helping me set up. Go to http://www.vibrationsrecording.com

If I can add a little something...what about those double swinging doors? Wouldn't they become the weak link?

I'm thinking that the exterior tracking room walls will be John's "inside out design" (slot resonators) and the interior walls are yet to be determined.

I can't get my head around this either. The inside out wall, as I understand it, IS the interior wall. Right? Somebody? Help me :)

Thanks for the reply and questions XSpace.

what about those double swinging doors? Wouldn't they become the weak link?

I worry about this as well. :? Why go to all that trouble and expense isolating slabs etc with inadequate doorways?! I have considered John's thoughts about not needing to isolate but I tend to err on the side of overbuild and caution which may be foolish in this case. I'm not sure? John Sayers indicated that hotels and commercial buildings utilize full view glass doors that provide low sound transmission. By angling them a bit from each other so that one set is not perfectly parallel with the other and imbedding or ramping the bottom door seals, good isolation could be acheived. But I haven't investigated stc's etc yet. Sliders could work in this way as well yet i want the easier option of moving a grand piano etc. through easily as well as openning the room up for tracking room expansion if needed in this multi-purpose studio. What are your thoughts about this??

The inside out wall, as I understand it, IS the interior wall.

Sorry. :oops: I wasn't very clear about this. I wrote:

I'm thinking that the exterior tracking room walls will be John's "inside out design" (slot resonators) and the interior walls are yet to be determined.

What I was trying to explain is that around the perimeter of the of the building from the outside in is the stucco,styro,concrete,styro exterior wall of the buidling-what i am calling "the shell". next space in is the 6"air gap to be filled with batting, perhaps 703 if I can. Then the layers of sheet rock-likely 2 - 5/8" sheets. Then the 703 to fill the wall spaces and covered with cloth and white pine slats. By interior walls I meant the ones between tracking rooms and the cr. I'm not sure yet whether these will be inside out design or other options like masonry. The construction of the slabs will be built to accommodate most any option in the future when I get to that part. Does this help? Please keep any additional thoughts, suggestions or comments coming. It helps me figure this out in a more logical way. Thanks again, :)

Hello John, I wanted to say hi from a fellow Mainah..... (though technically I'm not a Mainah since I'm "from away," though I've been here for more than 10 years and I own a home here.... LOL) Looks like a great opportunity you have going there. Good luck with it!

Yes, an "inside-out" wall IS the interior wall. It's just build inside out. So the drywall is in the air-cavity towards the exterior wall while the wool is on the inside of the room (for absorption IN the room instead of in the air cavity).

Yes Ro . I hope I cleared up what i meant. Any way, what else do any of you see that i should be aware of that might be a problem? Also, Hello again jwl!! I'll bet all your snow is gone! I'm "from away" as well, a "strap hanger" from Riverside, CT. My keyboard player @ the time and i moved to ME in '77. He's now in Blue Hill, i wandered off to homestead up here. So, any technical thoughts about the design? It began with John's corner control room layout to how it stands now. KEEP THOSE COMMENTS COMING! ciao for now!