Ground Up Music Room in London

Hi everyone!! I'm excited to get under way with this project and start a thread on here, I'm a long timer lurker/reader and find the site a brilliant resource! First off I'm a professional producer/mixer/song-writer and have worked in many large studios and have had two different rented private spaces, I've just moved into a house with a garden and I'm hoping to build my own private facility from the ground up. I've spent years poking about in every studio I've worked in determining what I like and don't like and have maintained a strong interest in studio construction from this and other forums, several books (Built It Like The Pro's and Philip Newell's Book) and generally looking online at general construction information. I've done a fair bit of DIY over the years and have a growing interest in carpentry but essentially I've no experience in building! At present I'm in the design phase (including adding a kitchen extension, new attached garage including a utility room as well as the music room) and am starting to speak to architects about the whole project. We're exploring using an architect to design the additions as there are some strange angles to contend with and we want to make the whole rear of the house feel consistent. The rear garden currently contains a detached concrete block garage about 3x6m (rendered) which contains a toilet and has a tiled pitch roof. The garage was built by the previous owner and in generally good condition. My plan is to construct a new detached building following the same roof level and line as the garage, it will be located close to the garage (not sure how close yet?). The new building footprint will be just under 30m2 and will have dimensions of 4.6x6.4m. The idea is to build the control room and to potentially convert the adjacent garage into a small live space with a machine room, toilet and maybe an area to make drinks etc. Converting the garage is definitely stage 2 but I feel its also necessary to examine the feasibility of this before building the new room. The area I have in mind to build the new space runs along a boundary of the property, next doors house is about 5m away but they also have a basic lean to conservatory which is only a few meters away. In terms of soundproofing I'm aiming to achieve 70dB STC based on the idea that I want to be able to blast something at 100dB at 2am in the morning and nobody hear a thing. I'm aware of the TL figures being significantly more important but at present I don't know if its realistic to try and get 70dB reduction at 40Hz with my budget and space so any input on this will be greatly appreciated. I work on a wide variety of music and that definitely includes bass heavy electronic music, I'd love my room to be relatively flat, clean and loud down to 30Hz. The general exterior of the structure will be built with 440x215x215mm dense concrete blocks and possibly a block and beam roof and internally I'm imagining a slab isolated from the main walls with a standard stud wall and plasterboard internal room with the internal roof supported by the studs etc. I'm trying to figure out windows and doors at present which is much complicated by the general understanding with my wife that we don't want to make the space difficult for someone else to use when we sell the property, with this in mind I'm trying to find a solution that allows me achieve a high STC/TL reduction and still fit opening windows (I don't need to open them though). I've thought of bricking up the openings behind the normal window with solid glass bricks but I'm really not sure about the triple leaf issues? Ultimately I want natural light (obscured is fine though) in the studio. The studio needs to excavated as to achieve an internal head height of 2.4m I think I need to start the slab about 800mm below ground level, this is order for the roof line to match the adjoining garage and to be allowed under permitted development. As I'm just building one room this will have small internal stairs (flanked by huge bass traps!!!!) to take it down to the below ground inner level. What I really need is some advice on is how close I can build next to the garage (which has maybe 500mm strip foundations) as its going to be a rather big hole in the ground! I thought the two buildings could be joined with some kind of canopy maybe 1.2m wide. I'll be speaking to a structural engineer about the plan but a general idea of these things at this point would really help! My projected internal dimensions are 2.4mx3.8mx5.6m I've trying to understand how the foundations, wall and slab will be laid out, I've not seen much online regarding isolated slabs and most construction methods seem to tie in the foundations, slab and walls. At present my thinking is to dig the trench foundations maybe 2m (depending on ground conditions) and fill with 1m of concrete and then excavate out the middle and build up the walls to the DPC layer from there. The slab would then be poured (isolated from the walls by kingspan or something?) with a membrane that ties into the DPC? Please give any relevant advice on this area of construction! Will isolating the slab give me a significant improvement in the TL/STC rating? I've got no drawings at present but will start on Sketch-Up once I've got an architect on board. I hope what I've written give you some idea of what I want to do, in a nutshell I need a highly soundproof concrete bunker with opening external windows (can be sealed as long as reversible without too much disruption. In terms of budget I've got £35000-£40000 but some of that will hopefully be used to convert the garage (which will also need excavating!). I plan on project managing the building and hiring tradesmen to carry out work where required. I'm imagining getting in someone to build the shell and me doing most of the rest with friends. I'm hoping this thread will blossom into a useful design thread with lots of nice diagrams and pictures and stuff! Thanks in advance for any help with this!!! cheers Bukarin

Hi there Bukarin, and welcome back! It's been quite a few years since your last thread here on the forum.

I'm hoping to build my own private facility from the ground up.

Excellent! That's the best way of doing it, as you aren't limited by any existing walls, floor, or ceilings: you can do it right from the start!

starting to speak to architects about the whole project. We're exploring using an architect to design the additions as there are some strange angles to contend with and we want to make the whole rear of the house feel consistent.

You'll need the architect for the looks, for sure, but DO NOT let an architect design your studio! That would be like letting a fisherman design your guitar, or letting a luthier design your fishing boat... wrong specialty. Your architect will be the key person to making the studio design fit in with the rest of the house, drawing up the plans, and walking you through the convoluted process of permits, inspections, building codes, materials, costs and perhaps even structural engineering, but he's the wrong guy to be designing the studio. Just like the best qualified plumbing engineer in the world is still the wrong guy to do open heart surgery on your ticker, even if he understands the concept of pipes and fluids and pumps... In other words: get a studio designer to design your studio, and get him working together with your architect to make it look pretty, meet code, and pass inspection, as a team. Right guy, right job.

My plan is to construct a new detached building following the same roof level and line as the garage, it will be located close to the garage (not sure how close yet?)

It can be as close as you want it. The new slab can be poured directly next to the old slab, with just a very small isolation gap between them. Or no gap at all, if extreme isolation is not needed. The two slabs can be in direct contact if you only need moderate to high levels of isolation between the two rooms.

In terms of soundproofing I'm aiming to achieve 70dB STC based on the idea that I want to be able to blast something at 100dB at 2am in the morning and nobody hear a thing.

That would be fine... if STC were actually a useful rating system for determine music isolation! But it isn't. STC was never designed to judge sound isolation across the full spectrum. It only takes into account a small segment of the spectrum. It completely ignores the bottom two and a half octaves of the spectrum, and the top two and a half octaves as well. So it tells you nothing at all about how well a wall, floor, window, door or ceiling will isolate drums, bass, keyboards, electric guitar, or other similar instruments. STC was designed to tell you something about isolating voices, fans, dishwashers, photocopiers, telephone, small radios, and other typical home and office types noises. Not rock bands. I can build you a wall rated at STC-60 that does a lousy job of blocking drums, and I can build you another wall rated at only STC-50 that does an amazing job of blocking drums. STC is no use for you here. So you should start thinking in terms of "transmission loss", which cover the entire spectrum that you are interested in, and you should start thinking in terms of decibels, not STC numbers (they aren't the same thing, and aren't even closely related). Since you are starting with a peak level of only 100 dB, it seems that you are not planning to record drums or bass in your studio, and are only considering quieter instruments, but it would be good if you could explain in more detail what type of instruments you plan to have in there for your 2 AM session.

I don't know if its realistic to try and get 70dB reduction at 40Hz

Ummmm. NO! :shock: Not even the best isolated studio in the world gets 70 dB TL at 40 Hz! That would be Galaxy Studios, in Belgium, and they get a fraction over 100 dB of isolation. It cost them many millions of dollars to get that, and took them years to do it, but I totally doubt they are getting much more than maybe 50 dB TL at 40 Hz. But why do you need such extreme isolation at 40 Hz? What do you expect to be so loud in your studio? Are you recording canon fire? Grenade explosions? Earthquakes? On the other hand, you mentioned peak levels of only 100 dB, so something doesn't jibe here.... :?

I work on a wide variety of music and that definitely includes bass heavy electronic music, I'd love my room to be relatively flat, clean and loud down to 30Hz.

Well, the acoustic response of your control room can be fairly flat and reasonably clean down to 30 Hz, but it can't be "loud". That's a function of the sound system you put inside it, not the room itself. What speakers do you plan to uses are your mains?

The general exterior of the structure will be built with 440x215x215mm dense concrete blocks and possibly a block and beam roof

Excellent. You should be able to get good isolation like that (but not 70 dB at 40 Hz!!!). 21cm of solid concrete would give you about 45 kg/m2 surface density, which is about 37 dB TL according to empirical mass law. But I'm guessing your bricks are hollow, not solid, so the actual number would be somewhat less.

and internally I'm imagining a slab isolated from the main walls

Isolated slab, concrete outer leaf... It sounds like you really are going to be recording extremely loud things in there, but I don't understand that, since you said you expect to only have peaks at around 100 dB. Something isn't right here: Why such extreme measures when you don't have anything very loud going on? I'm not getting the picture. You'd only need such high levels of isolation out-bound if you were recording loud instruments, such as acoustic drums and bass guitar, but you said that you'll only have things up to 100 dB in there, so clearly that isn't the case. Is this going to be a Foley stage? That's about the only other reason I can think of for having extreme isolation, but that would be for inbound noise, not outbound which is what you were talking about. I'm confused! If you are only talking about the control room (where things will be much quieter than on the live room), 100 dB is probably a bit on the low side for checking mixes with lots of percussive impact sounds, but I imagine you are talking about the entire studio, right? Both CR and LR?

I'm trying to figure out windows and doors at present

For 70 dB isolation at 40 Hz, we are talking bank-vault type doors! Nothing much less than that will accomplish such major isolation. You are going to need very, very seriously heavy doors, weighing hundreds of kilograms, and with multiple levels of seals on them. There's no problem with supporting such a door on the concrete outer leaf, but for the inner-leaf door that has to be supported by the stud frame, that will be an issue.

we don't want to make the space difficult for someone else to use when we sell the property

:shock: :!: You are talking about a major undertaking, with extreme levels of acoustic isolation, and you still want it to look normal and be re-usable as normal residential building afterwards? Ummm... that's a REALLY tall order. I'm not sure how you would go about accomplishing that. I've never seen a door that can handle 70 dB TL and yet still look like a normal house door. Perhaps if you make if from depleted uranium and hang it from a dozens titanium hinges, but paint it to look look like wood... :)

I'm trying to find a solution that allows me achieve a high STC/TL reduction and still fit opening windows

Sorry, but I just don't see that happening. Not for the extreme isolation levels you are talking about. Typical acoustic windows get you around 40 dB, maybe 45 at best, but those are fixed pane (non-operable), and you want something that blocks a thousand times more energy... In essence, you are asking for a bucket that is really good at holding water but that also has huge holes in it...

I think I need to start the slab about 800mm below ground level,

Here's an idea: Since you need major extreme isolation, and you need to excavate anyway, then why not excavate deeper and put the entire studio below ground? Problem solved. Earth is a good acoustic damper, very massive, so if the entire studio is below ground, then you can attain very high levels of isolation. But there's something that doesn't make sense here. You say: "The studio needs to excavated as to achieve an internal head height of 2.4m ... I think I need to start the slab about 800mm below ground level," and also "for the roof line to match the adjoining garage". That implies that garage is only 1.6m high right now? How do you stand up in there? How do you even get a car in there? I guess I'm not understanding how you figured out the heights. If you build the CR the same as the garage is right now, and I'm assuming the garage is high enough for people and cars to move around in, then why would you need an extra 80 cm of headroom to get back to the same height? Maybe you can post some photos of the existing garage, and post some diagrams of what you have in mind for both rooms, so we can better understand what you are envisioning.

I've trying to understand how the foundations, wall and slab will be laid out,

That's fairly simple: you'd need to pour a monolithic slab for the floor and inner-leaf walls, then a separate foundation for the outer leaf wall. The gap between them only needs to be small: you'll seal it with some type of resilient compound. They are poured separately. The monolithic slab is done exactly the same as a normal house slab would be done, then the foundation for the outer wall is done the same as for a typical retaining wall. The hardest part is ensuring that they don't touch each other, and that whatever you use as the separator during the second pour can then be fully dug out afterwards, so it too is not causing flanking. Of course, you need to do all this 80cm below grade, and build up the outer-leaf walls from there to grade level, as though it were a basement. So you'll need to follow the usual procedure for waterproofing that, really, really well, to ensure that not a single drop can ever get in. You won't have access to the inner faces of those outer-leaf walls once the place is built, and a sump pump is out of the question, so you need to ensure that those wall are totally watertight.

Will isolating the slab give me a significant improvement in the TL/STC rating?

For TL yes: For STC: Hard to say. STC doesn't measure flanking, and doesn't deal with low frequencies or impact noise on structres, so it isn't an appropriate measure.

in a nutshell I need a highly soundproof concrete bunker with opening external windows

And I need a salary of a million dollars a month, but I don't want to do any work or make any investments to get it! :) ( It's more likely that my wish will come true, than that yours will... :) ) Jokes aside, you really are asking for something close to impossible. It probably can be done, but the cost of such hugely massive operable windows, and the hinges needed to take the extreme loads, and the multiple seals... well, you'd need my dream salary (see above) to be able to afford your dream windows! Even for non-operable windows, that's still a very, very tall order. You can get fixed-pane commercial windows rated at about 45 dB TL for several thousand dollars each. A pair of those back-to-back with a large air gap could feasibly get you in the high 50-something range, maybe even getting close to 60 dB. But you say you need to get ten times more.... :!: Theory says you could probably do that with a couple of two-inch thick laminated glass panes (25+25mm and acoustic PVB interlayer) and a three-foot air gap between them, ... But the cost... And those are for fixed-pane, sealed windows. As soon as you make them operable, you introduce the issue of seals. How do you ensure that the seals can provide continuity for the same surface density as the glass? Answer: you can't! Rubber is much lower density than glass (about half), so even if you had rubber seals that run the complete thickness of the glass, you still don't have enough mass to complete the circuit, and even the tiniest imperfection on the mating faces, or a tiny bit of air trapped in there, has detrimental consequences for isolation. You'd have to mount the glass in operable frames that are at least twice as as thick as the glass where the entire edge area is fully covered in rubber, and fully seals against the jamb, with the same area, also fully covered with rubber. Doable, but complicated engineering, and not cheap.

In terms of budget I've got £35000-£40000

That would be fine for a typical home studio around the size you are talking about, with good levels of isolation. But not for the extreme levels you mentioned. I have just finished designing a similar sized place in Scotland right now, with similar construction, and the owner has estimates for total construction costs in that same region as your budget. His is a bit bigger and a bit more expensive, but the ratio is about right (£ per square meter). However, for his place I am projecting isolation of around 50 dB TL, not the 70 dB TL that you want. That's one hundred times more energy that needs to be stopped, in your case. Much more expensive, and much harder to do. When I started out with his project, initially we did discuss higher levels of isolation, isolated slabs, and a fully subterranean build as options, but he eventually discarded those, due to the much higher cost. He got quotes for doing those, and dropped the idea quickly. Cost was enormous. It is your need for extreme isolation that is going to push your budget up. Way up. Add a zero to your current budget, and you won't be far wrong.... I guess the whole issue here boils down to this: how much isolation do you actually need? You mentioned 70 dB, but that's unrealistic for a home studio. So how much can you live with? What level do you actually have to get down to, legally and morally, at your neighbor's front window? How loud will you really be inside your studio? I'd suggest that you work on coming up with a more realistic number for your isolation, that fits within your budget. If you were to re-think your needs and get your isolation number down to say 55 dB TL for the entire spectrum you mentioned (30 Hz to 20 kHz), then that would be do-able on your budget, using techniques and materials similar to what you have in mind, provided that it is carefully designed (not by an architect!), and carefully built. Id suggest that you get a sound level meter, measure the levels of a typical session that you'd expect to have in your future studio once it is finished (set the meter to "C" weighting, slow response), then also measure the typical ambient level in your yard at the time of day when you'd like to be doing that type of session. The difference between the two is how much total transmission loss you need between the interior of your room, and your neighbor's house wall. Then factor in the natural air attenuation, plus the distance from your studio wall to his house wall, and you'll have the amount of actual isolation that you need for your studio construction. I suspect it will be rather less than 70 dB. Based on that number, and on the spectrum of instruments you plan to have inside making that amount of noise, you can then figure out what type of wall, floor, door, window, and ceiling construction you need would need in order to attain the calculated level, and also what class of HVAC system and electrical system you'd need. Those last two are major key points in studios, and very frequently overlooked. For both of them you need to punch large holes in your wonderfully isolated and sealed walls, then you need to do the necessary things to add back the immense loss in isolation from having those holes there. So those are critical issues in figuring out isolation. When I'm designing a studio, I probably spend about a third to a half of my time on HVAC. It's a huge part of the entire isolation system. There's also the legal factor to consider, so go visit your local municipality and get a copy of the noise regulations that govern your area. That will tell you how loud you can be legally, and how they would measure that if there ever was a complaint. Factor that in too, but do be aware that most noise regulations use "A" weighting, not "C", which favors you greatly for low frequency noise. So re-check your levels with the meter set to "A", to see how you stack up against the law. In summary, overall I'd say that if you reduce your isolation needs to something more moderate, then there's a good chance that you can end up with a great studio, within your budget.

I'm hoping this thread will blossom into a useful design thread with lots of nice diagrams and pictures and stuff

Me too! :) - Stuart -

Thank you so much for that great reply! I've been deep in the trenches mixing an album so only just got time to get back on the forum. Ok so my understanding of TL figures is clearly lacking! I think the TL Loss of 50dB is what I should aim for...The control room will not be used for recording drums but I will be recording piano, acoustic guitars and vocals. My quest for such a high TL Loss figure is so I can work at any level I like at any time and not get into trouble with the Environmental Health, it appears the STC figures are what's important for that! It also appears I've underestimated the SPL levels I'll be generating! I've just purchased my main speakers (collecting tomorrow!!) in preparation for the design, I've bought a secondhand pair of ATC SCM100A which are old but hopefully sound great!! I've spoken to ATC and they can repair/upgrade them as required which is perfect. The ATCs are my dream monitors and I'm keen to look into flush mounting them and generally designing the room to maximise their potential. They are capable or generating 115dB SPL apparently so I guess that gives a better idea of what levels I may be able to generate. I work on a variety of different music styles including hip hop influenced stuff with lots of 808s and also plenty of dance music as well as more traditional acoustic instrument orientated stuff. I will definitely be working on plenty of bass heavy music and when I'm mixing I really like the option of working on my bottom end with short bursts of loud listening. My understanding is that flush mounting these speakers correctly will balance out the bottom end down to 32Hz as that is quoted as there -6dB point. In terms of a studio designer I have absolutely no intention of the architect doing anything other than sort out the exterior and connecting features to make it look less like a big concrete box in our garden. I've been thinking about the window thing a fair bit and I don't think I really explained what I was thinking very clearly! I would like the building to be easily converted back from a studio to a normal looking habitable space, I will definitely be making big heavy doors for example (in line with the 50dB TL Loss). The window thing is still perplexing me though!! The architect actually suggested I don't worry about the next use for the building and just build what I need, I'm thinking I definitely want natural light of some sort. My thinking is I use solid glass bricks for the exterior openings and if someone does want to put in normal windows then they can just take out the bricks and replace. Whatever is the cheapest option to get a result in line with concrete block work outer leaf (which will be solid dense blocks). Again the inner leaf openings can also be filled with glass block if required. The existing garage I want to build next to is about 2.2m to the eaves so plenty of room for a car!! My estimate for excavation included the slab, flooring, inner ceiling and outer roof with an air gap so as to achieve an internal finished ceiling height of 2.4m (I'm thinking a heavy block and beam roof, air gap, ceiling etc). I think the confusion came as I was referring to the head height within the isolated shell and calculated the excavation based on the roof line being 2.2m above ground. In terms of HVAC and fresh air I was thinking an ultra quiet split system and building plenums for the intake and extract lines for fresh air as per the designs I've seen in several books and on here. I've spoken to a studio designer already and he thought my room dimensions were too small to flush mount the ATCs so I guess any insight into that would be greatly appreciated! I've got another designer I'd like to talk too as I'm mainly after someone to help with the acoustic treatment/flush mount design. If everyone thinks it can't be done correctly then I'll be looking at other options! Thanks for any advise/ideas in advance!! I'm going to delve in to Sketchup soon but every time I use it it just annoys me!!!! lol

Ok so I've started playing with sketchup a little! If anyone has a good tutorial please let me know as having no knowledge of any CAD software I seem to be making a lot of hard work of it!! I've attached a screenshot (underneath) of my idea for the speaker flush mount positions...I can post the Sketchup file but its a total mess and probably not worth anyone attempting to make sense of. I've measured the width of the speakers (ATC SCM100A) from the tweeters and they are sitting about 1910mm apart tweeter to tweeter. This gives me a listening position of just under 38%. I superimposed a circle from the mix position and it intersects nicely with the sidewalls which will be fully absorbent. The internal room dimensions I'm working to are 5600mm x 3800mm x 2900mm (I decided I need more head height). http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k280/bukarin/Screen%20Shot%202015-03-31%20at%2002.42.34.png I've done some more thinking and research about the acoustic treatment of the space and I'm leaning towards a Non-Environment approach, I've read the Newell book exhaustively and have great admiration for the Northward FTB approach which clearly is an evolution arguably an improvement of this concept. I can't do a FTB room as I don't have the minimum space requirements but I think I can aim towards a NE style room with some possible diffusion partly covering the rear traps. In general I like rooms which are on the dead side of things (not lifeless!!) and I want to flush mount my ATCs so it seems logical to adopt the NE concept as its completely based around flush mounting monitors. In my previous post I mentioned ceiling height of 2.4m, after a lot of thinking this dimension is probably the only one I can actually change space wise so the hole in the ground is potentially going to a little deeper! I think an internal ceiling height of 2.9m gives me enough room to build a false ceiling and incorporate some ceiling hangers and maybe even some limp mass membranes. As you can see on the layout the door is on the rear wall and unfortunately its my only choice so I thought some large and varied hangers at the back could be a good way to go? At present I'm just figuring out whether this is viable and whether the hangers should be accompanied with rockwool facing or other treatments...I'm thinking the side walls will be 100mm rockwool with a possible 80mm air gap or maybe something more exotic as used by Newell. All input suggestions will be gladly received, I'm going to speak to some designers as well but I really like a challenge and feel I may be able to take on this small scale project with a little external help! I'm also ready to accept that I could be wrong about this!!!

Just to add about my intentions for the speaker wall: I plan to build some custom sealed subwoofers which will sit under The ATCs (they remain unpopulated depending on how the room turns out). I like the option of turning subwoofers on when I'm writing to add a little more vibe but for the purpose of this thread they're glorified speaker stands that may become flush mounted subwoofers. I need about 600mm of stand to get the ATCs into their optimum position for my ears and that ties in ok with a 92ltr sealed subwoofer design I have in mind. I plan on keeping the speakers fully vertical (not angled down) and also decoupling them on some AMC springs so they have a resonant freq of under 10Hz. I think AMC will be able to calculate the correct loading for the weight of speaker stack but I'm yet to enquire about that. I'm planning on making the speaker walls super heavy and stiff but I'm not sure if I need to build extra boxes for the speakers if they're already fully decoupled from the wall?

I've not made much progress with the building yet (apart from the exterior and how it interacts with the current house), if anyone needs any more info please let me know, I'd really like some feedback on the speaker position and my ideas for the flush mounting dimensions and angles if possible please? Thanks for looking!

Probably a little late, but you seem to be on the right track! - Stuart -

Thanks for the reassurance!! It definitely not too late as I'm still in the design/planning stage! I had a visit from the structural engineer who is working on the project today and he thought the idea of the isolated slab would be harder to build and create potential issues with damp. The excavation required is over a meter deep which obviously creates its own set of engineering problems and solutions, he has suggested building a 150mm reinforced slab with starter bars around the edge and then building upto ground level with hollow 215mm concrete blocks and filling with concrete. On top of the slab he then suggests insulation and then a final 75mm screed layer. As this wasn't exactly what I was planning I thought it would be good to run this past you guys! First of all is losing the isolated slab a significant problem regarding soundproofing? I've seen lots of builds that don't use isolated slabs so I know its not essential. Just as a reminder I'm about 2m from my neighbours old conservatory and the room will be used as a control room with large flush mount monitors potentially mixing loud dance music/hip hop late at night!

Isolated slab is not a "life or death" thing. Yes it's nice to have if you can afford it, and if you really need it, but you can still get very good isolation without an isolated slab. The big issue in your case seems to be not disturbing your neighbors, so as long as your slab is not connected to their slab, then you should be fine. - Stuart -

Right so I've spent ages learning and designing with Sketchup and I think my model is probably close enough to what I'm thinking to get some feedback! At present I've encountered a few non studio related problems regarding positioning of the structure which have finally be resolved so the builder is looking to to start building the shell in just over a month. I've scrapped the idea of an isolated slab and the new location of the studio is actually another 10 meters or so from the neighbours so that is a big help with any potential isolation issues (this had no bearing on moving the location though!). My model has a few quirks which mainly involve the ceiling seemingly being in the wrong place, I haven't fixed the height of the internal walls as I'm still not 100% sure about what to do with the floor. I'm currently consulting the structural engineer with these matters. His suggestion is to pour a 100mm screed layer over 100mm of insulation and build the internal shell on top of that but I'm just waiting to confirm the loading of everything. I'm not required to follow building regs with this structure as the floorspace is less than 30m2 so I can basically do what I think is best...any insight into this would be good? I was thinking we could put insulation under the main slab instead and still increase the thermal insulation and then build on top of the reinforced concrete bass. Other issues with the model include floating speakers which will actually sit on AMC Springs and concrete paving slabs and should have an overall resonance of about 5Hz. The speaker walls haven't been fully designed yet but I'm thinking of using two layers of plasterboard with MLV and then either one or two layers of MDF for the front surface. I'm planning on designing a bezel that will bridge the gap between the speaker walls and the speakers (which handily have a protruding baffle which I think I'll fill with neoprene or something). I'd like to build a hatch in the speaker wall so I can use the rear space as a computer/hard drive room. Do the speaker walls need to be fully sealed? For anyone who looks at the model the floating panels on the ceiling are 200mm of rockwool, I'm trying to use as many of my existing panels as possible so I thought suspending the large bass trap panels I already have was a good idea. The suspended panels at the front will be angled and hardbacked. The large cinema screen will be on some kind of hinge and will hooked onto the ceiling when not in use. I'm not 100% about the bass trap scheme at the rear but still thinking about either hangers or fluffy insulation. The exact design of the fresh air intake and exhaust is yet to be tackled but I've stuck the vents in where I believe they'll work and not be intrusive on the outside of the building. The exhaust vent is the on in the bass trap and the intake is going to be on the speaker wall although could definitely be moved... Hopefully someone could have a look at the model please and point out any major problems! Thanks in advance, it's a slow process but I'm fairly confident with sketchup and thats made a huge difference to being able to visualise and plan eveything. Thanks in advance

Ok so I can't seem to upload the sketchup file which is about 20mb? I can post a wetransfer link if that is easier? I've purged the file but can't seem to get it any smaller

Ok so I can't seem to upload the sketchup file which is about 20mb? I can post a wetransfer link if that is easier?

Sure, no problem. As long as you put it some place that doesn't require signing up, and doesn't display adds, that's fine. - Stuart -

Here is a link for the Sketchup File on dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/s/f9ikjhofafqhgxy/Studio%20Model%2011th%20Sept.skp?dl=0 Thanks for looking, all feedback appreciated!

Here are a view pics of the Sketchup File...

Hi there! Has anyone got any input for me please? I'd really appreciate some feedback on my design/plans! Thanks for looking

Ok well I'm starting to feel like I may be talking to myself!! :D The shell construction has just started and I currently have a big hole at the bottom of my garden! Anyhow I have a question regarding my exterior window... Although the window isn't shown on the exterior wall it will be on my next revision of the plans. After reading Rod's book regarding window design I saw a post on Gearslutz saying that he recommends using a prebuilt exterior window rather than DIY...unfortunately I've just ordered my glazing for both windows so now I'm committed to a DIY/custom solution. I've ordered 2 panes of 25mm laminated glass (1000mm x 1000mm) http://www.diometonline.co.uk/product/25mm-laminated-floor-glass. It might be overkill but the price seemed good and I'm looking for as much isolation as possible. So my question is regarding the design of an exterior fixed window. I'm thinking a simple and very strong hardwood frame with protruding cill (mortise tenon joinery), with timber stops either side of the glass set on neoprene with glazing tape to seal. Does this seem like a sensible approach? I've googled a great deal into this subject but this combination of glass thickness doesn't seem to be anywhere near the norm for any DIY info for an exterior window! Any input or help with this would be greatly appreciated. I may consider custom built aluminium frames if this is too tricky to DIY with hardwood. Many thanks!!

Hi Bukarin, Not sure I can offer much help on your window sealing (I found your post looking for more info), but I am curious to see how you got on with Diomet. I am thinking of using the same, just a bit weary that it might not be sufficiently clear. I am currently mid way though a build in Crouch Hill, so good to have someone searching for similar suppliers nearby. Colm

Hi Colm! I've just installed my exterior window and the glass seems great to me...I thought it might have a slight green tint but now that it's in I'm happy. PM me your email address and I'll send you some photos and if you'd like to visit for an inspection you'll be pleased to know I'm about 20mins drive from you if you catch the traffic right! For anyone interested I've glazed the window using a combination of Butyl glazing tape and Silfix U9 clear silicone with a belt and braces extra bead of silicone externally. I'm thinking of doing a separate build thread as my shell is pretty much complete however the complete lack of interest in my design stage isn't inspiring me much! I would really like some input if possible please? I'm just about to build the exterior door which will be a Super Door style arrangement, once that is complete I'm going to test the soundproofing of the shell before putting any holes in the walls for fixings, electrics etc. I've been led to believe that I will need some form of ventilation for the cavity and roof space of the building, does anyone have an idea of how to achieve this without sacrificing soundproofing? I'm thinking some kind of silencer for the vents like mini plenums maybe? Thanks for looking

bukarin wrote:

For anyone interested I've glazed the window using a combination of Butyl glazing tape and Silfix U9 clear silicone with a belt and braces extra bead of silicone externally. I'm thinking of doing a separate build thread as my shell is pretty much complete however the complete lack of interest in my design stage isn't inspiring me much! I would really like some input if possible please?

I don't have anything useful to add but thought I would mention that I would love to see some pictures of your doors and windows as I am going to be doing that quite soon as well and the idea of building an external door is making me nervous.

Ok here is the start of my construction thread viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20268 I'm also nervous about the door but I'm following the superdoor concept and adding a few standard exterior door features. The door frame is all built from hardwood and will have a protruding door cill and of course lots of acoustic seals which are of course are also weather seals. The door itself is a 54mm FD60 solid core door with a plywood face. I'm just researching some extra drip channels/rain bar for the door.