24x32 Addition to Existing Home

Thank you for this great forum. I've been reading the reference guides and using the search feature as recommended. I've read the books "Keep The Peace" by Mark Parsons and "Building A Recording Studio" by Jeff Cooper. I believe I am now ready to share my project. I am at the point of drawing my initial floor plan. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated! I'm struggling with the proper way to divide my available space. Looking for a kickstart from someone with experience. Complete details are below followed by questions and my first drawings of the addition in pdf files. NEW BUILD – HOME ADDITION Purpose: All-In-One Drum Practice Room, Recording Studio, Band Rehearsal Room, Listening Room, Guest Quarters -Attached to existing “raised ranch” style home. -New build will share wall with the lower level master bedroom and the upper level kitchen. -Proposed 3 room design: Control Room, Tracking Room, Bathroom ME I'm a drummer that also plays guitars, bass and keyboards to compose rock & jazz. I am NOT an engineer or recording gearhead. I currently record myself with all my instruments surrounding my desk. I plug into a Firepod interface forwarded to a Mac using Cubase and mouse/monitor controls (no board). That's the extent of my gear beyond instruments. My decibel levels would be 80-100 at most for anything I do solo or with group. I don't think I can hit 110 anymore! I'm creative and driven to succeed, but lack construction/handyman skills and time to DIY. Being honest, plumbing, electrical and building terms are foreign to me and aren't easily retained even after I research deeply. Skilled family and paid professionals will be doing this for me. My drawing skills are currently only in Microsoft Publisher as you will see in the attachments. Sketchup is beyond my talents. I've tried tutorials and dabbling, but its been rough. I'll keep trying, but it's frustrating right now. BUDGET $40,000 US - Includes pouring slab, erecting structure and building interior from ground up. So EVERYTHING except instruments, music gear, A/V equipment and furniture. IMPORTANT FEATURES OF ADDITION Sound Proofing – Priority High. Protect existing house #1. Neighbors are secondary. Note locations of neighbors on floor plan. Acoustics – Prefer live, big room sound over dead in the tracking/rehearsal room. Acoustics set for optimum acoustic drum sound and live performance experience. Functionality – Space Flexibility: Practice space, listening room, recording space, lounge, guest room (sofa bed(s)). Look – Aesthetically pleasing “recording studio look” preferred over sterile practice room or “home” look. Creative, non-direct lighting preferred. Examples of other studio décor on file. Space – If space is restricted, the Tracking/Rehearsal Room should be largest room, then Control Room, then Bathroom, then other. BUILDING Footprint – Feet: Proposed 24’x32’ Floor – Proposed Concrete slab Electrical – Main electrical service panel has a rated amperage of ____ . Location marked on floor plan. Water – Water sources (existing bath and kitchen) are on the north wall of the existing home. Layout marked on floor plan. Ceiling – Proposed peaked to 12 feet, running north/south Walls – Proposed 8 feet high DOORS & WINDOWS House Entry - Already exists 3 feet from west wall. Can not be moved. Load In Access – Driveway is on west side of existing house. Proposed sidewalk running on west and north side of existing house for exterior entry on the west wall of the new build. Proposed sidewalk noted on floor plan. Interior only access not a preferred method. Additional Exterior Door – Exit to backyard (east). Not mandatory. Proposed patio noted on floor plan. No door on north wall. Exterior Windows – Large windows on east wall overlooking backyard ok. High windows on east wall for light, but no vision ok. No windows on north wall. Do not sacrifice sound/sound proofing for view. STUDIO Control Room – Should be comfortable for 4 people. Two at desk and two at rear seating. Mac based recording, not gear heavy. Keyboard station. V-Drum Kit. Room for guitars. A television and listening room. Tracking/Rehearsal Room – Should be able to accommodate 4 musicians comfortably. Drumkit(s) are priority. Growth available for baby grand down the road. Isolation Booth - Not mandatory. If included, maybe designed as a dual purpose storage/iso room. Visual – Eye contact between rooms would be preferred, but without sacrificing sound proofing. ADDITIONAL Bathroom – Toilet, sink, tub with shower or large shower, bath closet/storage. Preferred on south wall where current plumbing exists. Wet Bar – Not mandatory, but preferred. Maybe 6’ counter/cabinets, with sink. Preferred on south side of room with existing plumbing. Storage – Needed to accommodate drum cases, miscellaneous equipment INITIAL QUESTIONS... -How do I layout these rooms to accommodate my needs in the space allowed? -How does that peak running down the center of the room come into play when positioning rooms? -Do I bypass the use of splayed walls in order to take advantage of all my available floor space? And the big question... -Since I'm a drummer/composer and not a recording engineer, should I not waste the space, lose the Control Room and just create a large live room to hold all my instruments and record live in? I've always wanted a studio (the look: splayed walls, multi-rooms, acoustic treatments, mood lighting, etc...), but maybe I'm wasting my money trying to create a true recording studio on just 24'x32' of land. If I don't do this right and things are too small in the end, I'd be pretty upset.

Very exciting project! One comment. I don't think your budget is realistic. If you did 90% of the work yourself I'm guessing you would still need to double your budget.

stuntbutt - Thanks for the comments. Yes, I think $40k US is too low for the room as desired in my breakdown. That low budget may work if I just soundproofed the exterior walls and made one large rehearsal room. I'm willing to increase the budget significantly. The $40k was a starting point my family agreed on based on what they can envision (they're non-musicians, not quite getting this room yet!). I want to continue forward trying to design according to my original specs, see where that may put me financially and then back off features from there to reach a realistic $ amount (under $75k). My main builder will be on site in two weeks to review my initial plans and the information I learn from people like you on room layout ideas. He then can give me an idea of my material costs. His labor fees are actually minimal but his work is good.

Marty wrote:

...(they're non-musicians, not quite getting this room yet!)

A lot of musicians do not have the vision to fully comprehend these types of builds either, so it must be something different. What you are doing is constructing a specific structure to do a specific thing. In typical residential construction anytime a room is developed that is either a bathroom or kitchen or has a specific use outside of a "box" the costs are always higher in respect to the bedrooms, living rooms, etc. So building something like these acoustic environments that we engage in is even beyond that in scope and breadth. And usually has no plumbing :) To fully convey how this is different overall then just building a shed or garage you have to find some of the education on it in order to answer questions that may come up from those around us that do not "get it". These rooms are aimed at holding sound in which makes them loud. This requires MASS and lots of it. It will require at least the amount of materials it takes to build one typical room X 2.5! And then that retained loudness has to be evened out so as to be of benefit to the engineer who is recording and/or the musician who is playing. Since this is usually the job of typical home furnishings, curtains, couchs, tables and what have you, go ahead and figure the cost to fully furnish a room, pictures and everything, X 2.5 :) Essentially you will attempt to take the loudness out of the room without that loudness ever really leaving the room! WTF? This is no small feat and is not for the faint of heart and as history has shown time and again it is often more then even the best musicians can muster. HVAC? You have to push air in or pull it out through enough handmade baffles and plenums to choke a mule at such a slow speed that it cannot be heard by a microphone! This is outside of day-to-day business as usual. Consider your budget busted :) I don't care how much ya got, the HVAC systems that get designed and installed are awesum in design but costly to effect. As a general overall reference, Brien

OK xSpace. I like your input and honesty. Let's move on - Let's assume I have the budget and know-how. Let's leave the expense and sweat of construction, sound proofing, HVAC and acoustic treatment behind. Let's also admit I'm just a stupid musician (not even...I'm just a drummer!). Let's get back to my initial question: What is the best floor plan for my 24x32 foot space with my ultimate plans of Control Room, Tracking Room and Bathroom? I have attached a simple boxed-room floor plan that I started with originally. Obviously it's not the right way. What is? With my limited space, can I afford to splay interior walls or should I stick with a boxed design and deal with sound treatment from there?

If this is new construction you would benefit by not attaching it directly to the house. I can feel it coming the reasons why it will have to be attached to the house. But it is a known gremlin that anytime this type of construction happens, the flanking paths become an issue. The want of a great design is a bit of the cart before the horse right now. At least if this was my project these are the things we would discuss in the preconstruction meeting. The plumbing and electrical would follow that. One is a potential flanking path and the other often requires a dedicated service to keep the lines clean and free from the house interference. I'm just saying...

Thanks xSpace - I'll live for now with the possibility of a sound gremlin creeping through to the house by keeping the new build attached. Its ease of access that's important. When it's 15 degrees January & February, I'd like to be able to walk in from the house with my slippers and coffee, not snow suit and shovel! Besides, if I build detached, the floor plan will have to be quite smaller. As far as cart before the horse with my plans...I really just want to show my go-to man for this project my floor plan and say "Can you do it?" and "What are the issues?". I'm confident the person leading the job can direct me on electric/plumbing issues and of course, sound leakage concerns. The main focus will be creating that barrier between the house and this new build. After reading my books and this site repeatedly, I have my ideas on materials and build methods, but I'd like to hear his opinion (and yours) too. Remember, this project is all about comfort and vibe. It's not a commercial recording studio. It's a rehearsal room, listening room, recording room, getaway-from-it-all-with-music room (that happens to have a pullout couch or two for guys that want to crash)! I'll continue to tweak my design and materials list and post as I go along. If anyone can add their two cents along the way, I'd love to hear it. However, If you think my project is too residential for this forum and not a worthy topic, let me know and I'll stop posting. Either way, I appreciate this incredibly informative site and its members.