Designing a new facility, need some assistance

Hello, First post so I figured I'd make it worth it! I've been lucky enough to be in a situation where I get to design and build a studio from the ground up. Literally. I will be building it inside of a steel building, the buildings dimensions are going to be determined hopefully shortly. Which poses my first question: I'm trying to start designing this studio, where do I start? How big should I make it? I have a lot of reference material and have been researching angles, modes, the golden ratio, and anything I can get my hands on that I find pertinent to the cause. I'm looking to build a facility with a 5.1 control room, a live room thats going to make everyone want to use it, a vocal booth, a super sweet custom tuned guitar room, and a foley stage. I'll be building a second floor somewhere in the building because my partner and I have a few more things we'd like to use the facility for. Pressing vinyl, a small record/merch store, and a medium/small live venue on the other side of the building, that all ties together. The studio is my main concern. I'd like to have a sound lock separating 2 halves of the building, one for the studio one for the live/business side. In the sound lock would be 2 stories of rooms/offices. Studio is priority, the live venue will more than likely be treated on the fly once we get everything in and get a feel for how we're going to utilize the space. I'm in a good spot, my family owns a contracting business and we have a lot of really great connections between myself, my family, my partners and their resources. Its serious enough that they've told me to start designing. Once plans are in place, we start to build! I know this is a lot comin from the forum noob, but I'm super excited and I can't wait to see what I'm going to learn from all of this. Thanks guys! -TJ Covert

Hi "TJ Covert". Please read the forum rules for posting (click here). You seem to be missing a couple of things! :) Sounds like you have an interesting project in mind!

I get to design and build a studio from the ground up. Literally. I will be building it inside of a steel building,

Hmmmm.... that's a bit of a contradiction! If you are building it from the ground up, then you can't also be building it inside something! :) "From the ground up" implies that there is nothing at all there right now, except for an empty piece of ground, and you get to choose exactly how it will be built, foundations and all. So it sounds like that is not the case, and you already have foundations, a floor slab, your outer leaf walls and the outer-leaf roof. Is that correct? Or are you saying that you really CAN build it from the ground up, but that you have already decided how the outer shell will be built, and don't need any help with that? If you already decided that, then why did you decide on a metal shell, with all the acoustic drawbacks that implies?

I'm trying to start designing this studio, where do I start?

I would start by clearly defining your goals: What is the purpose of the studio? (Commercial, private, hobby, other, all of the above). What do you plan to do in there? What types of music will you be recording? (Very different to record vocal soloists, rock bands, Foley for film, or entire symphony orchestras.). Do you plan to just record, or record and mix, or record, mix and master, or is it just a rehearsal space? (Very different requirements for each). Do you need to record multiple different sessions at the same time? How loud will you be? How quiet do you need to be (legally)? Etc. There are numerous things that you need to put down on paper, describing exactly what your goals are, as precisely and specifically as you can. That, in turn, will automatically lead to answers for many of the questions you have. And the biggest question of all is: what is your budget? That is usually the key defining characteristic of any studio build. If you think you want to record world-class symphony orchestras and say your budget is US$ 20,000, then I have some really sad news for you: It ain't gonna happen! But if you want to build a simple one-room rehearsal space inside your garage on that same budget, then chances are pretty good that you will succeed!

How big should I make it?

That will flow from answer the above questions, but the general rule with acoustics is that bigger sounds better... :) There are rules of thumb and recommendations from various organizations (for example, minimum floor area for a control room, minimum volume, maximum ratio of control room volume to live room volume, etc.), but a lot of the actual decisions on size depends on what you want to do in there. For example, if you need to record the entire philharmonic orchestra with a full choir, then your live room needs to be just a bit bigger than if you only ever plan to record string quartets or 6-man rock bands. You already provided some of the above info, so let's take a look at that, and see where it leads so far:

I'm looking to build a facility with a 5.1 control room,

Good. So that implies big-budget and a commercial facility already. While many hobby studios would love to have full 5.1, that's a rather expensive proposition to get right. The design is more complex, and so is the implementation, plus you need a larger space.

a live room thats going to make everyone want to use it,

Great, but for what? A live room that the local grunge rock group thinks is the best ever would probably not be suitable for the local symphony orchestra. A live room that is great for the gospel choir from the local church might be not so great for recording a soft and sensuous romantic ballad vocalist with her guitar. You might want to consider making the acoustics of that room variable, if you plan to record "all of the above", or maybe even to have two live rooms, of very different sizes and acoustics.

...and a foley stage.

The budget just went up again. And big time! Foley requires major isolation, since you will be recording some very, very quiet things that need to be made very loud. You are probably talking NC-15 or even lower, and even then you'd probably want to plan for even more isolation in the low end. Foley also implies a really, really quiet HVAC system, for the same reason. You also need a lot of space for Foley work, and great acoustics that can also be adjusted as needed. That will probably be the single most expensive room in the facility.

I'll be building a second floor somewhere in the building because my partner and I have a few more things we'd like to use the facility for.

Putting things above the studio implies complications with the isolation, especially if we are talking about industrial machinery, such as vinyl presses. Impact noise and vibration in that second story floor will be an issue. Keeping that out of your Foley studio will be a major issue.

I'd like to have a sound lock separating 2 halves of the building,

You'll need several sound locks: One into each room of the studio, at least, and having only one single entry door to a studio like this seems unrealistic. What about load-in / loud-out, for example? Will the incoming group have to lug all their gear and instruments through the lobby, past the offices, down a corridor, through the sound lock, down another corridor, through another lobby, through another sound lock, and into the live room? Maybe it would be better to provide a direct entry for load-in/load-out, right from the parking lot into the live room? But that door raises issues of its own... Lots to think about and plan here!

Studio is priority, the live venue will more than likely be treated on the fly once we get everything in and get a feel for how we're going to utilize the space.

Let's say that you have a rock concert going on in the live venue, with a great band pumping out 120 dBC. On the other side of the wall, and sitting on the same foundations and slab, you also want a Foley studio, recording the whisper of leaves rustling? Hmmmm... "Major isolation" takes on a whole new meaning.

my family owns a contracting business

Great, but have they ever built a studio before? There's a lot of stuff that has to be done different in studio construction that they never even have to think about when building a house, office or shop. The workers are going to need some special training on things to avoid and things to look out for during the construction. This is going to be a big facility, with a big budget, requiring excellent isolation, so they are going to have to work very carefully, and do things they are not accustomed to doing, while also NOT doing things that they ARE accustomed to.

Its serious enough that they've told me to start designing.

Excellent! It's great to hear that you have that kind of backing and support. This is a pretty large undertaking that you are getting into, so you will certainly be grateful for that a year or so down the line, when you can actually start pouring concrete and nailing 2x4s.

I know this is a lot comin from the forum noob, but I'm super excited and I can't wait to see what I'm going to learn from all of this.

That's OK! Enthusiasm is just as important as budget, and everyone has to start somewhere. Please don't misunderstand my comments above: they are not meant to dampen your enthusiasm, but rather to focus it where it needs to go. There is a HUGE amount of stuff that needs to be taken into account when designing a big facility like this, and my intention is more to point out some really important things that you might not have considered, so you can get on the road to the initial planning stage better prepared. For example, you talk about Foley, but you didn't mention a video post suite. Without that, how are you going to combine the sound with the video? You also mentioned a large facility, implying a lot of equipment, but didn't mention a machine room. Etc. It's great to be enthusiastic, and getting the go-ahead from your financial backers is a real high, but now comes the long, slow, boring road of actually putting that enthusiasm down on paper, in terms of a business plan (probably) and the goals and specs for your studio. Only once those are all in place can you start actually laying out the areas and designing the structural plan, the isolation plan, the HVAC plan, the electrical plan, the acoustic treatment plan, the equipment plan, and all the rest. So welcome! You have a great project and you are in the right place to get the information and guidance you need to do it right. It looks like a fun project, and I'll be following it with interest. But please check out those forum rules.... :) - Stuart -

ok, I'll give a fresh go at this. Heres the deal. The exact location of the studio is TBA, in central/western PA, the greater Altoona area is as specific as I can get, but it could just as easily wind up out by pittsburgh pending my partners market analysis. bottom line: they're asking me for a design, at least a rough one first. My situation with the building is as follows: My current set of circumstances have allowed me to be able to put up a large steel building for cheap. I understand this may add a few bumps in the acoustical road, but saving 20k+ could put a lot of necessary gear in the studio. I'd like to have a music recording studio with a live room, vocal booth and amp room, oh yeah and machine room ;) I'd also like to find the most efficient layout so that traffic flows nicely and workflow makes sense. avoiding interruptions, easing the stress levels, etc... Considering the difficulty of consolidating a music studio and a post studio, would building a smaller 5.1 mixing suite with its own custom foley booth be more appropriate? The suite could be used for stereo mixing, 5.1 mixing, light video editing and all other minor post needs, as I only intend to use it for light projects, nothing too major. so consider it a suite and booth versus a whole section of the facility. I would definitely need restrooms, an office and a kitchen/lounge! Kitchen and lounge could be centralized with access to both sides of the facility. Clients will have direct entrance to the studio, the venue and to the lounge, pending the services they require. The venue will be on a separate side of the building and will also house the office/small store for a small label, and the rooms for our vinyl production/storage of goodies. quote: Great, but have they ever built a studio before? There's a lot of stuff that has to be done different in studio construction that they never even have to think about when building a house, office or shop. The workers are going to need some special training on things to avoid and things to look out for during the construction. This is going to be a big facility, with a big budget, requiring excellent isolation, so they are going to have to work very carefully, and do things they are not accustomed to doing, while also NOT doing things that they ARE accustomed to. thats the golden rule of a successful contractor. there is no routine or regular way. each job calls for its own individual plan and gets its own special treatment. thats what makes the job exciting, and what makes the work truly an art. If I'd like to make a rough design myself, wheres a good starting place? I need to determine everything starting with dimensions. Once I know how big the studio needs to be I can figure out how big my building needs to be and where exactly I'm going to put it. Then I can really get into it, and design from the foundation up, layout, and eventually take what I have to a professional, get it reworked and tweaked then hopefully get to building. Then again if this is just a bonehead wish please let me know. I hope that was a bit more helpful? Its the best I got at the moment! I truly appreciate all of your comments/questions and concerns! Its only going to help me and what I want to do! Every input, good bad black or white is truly appreciated! Regards, -TJ Covert