Third Eye Studio - Melbourne - Australia.

leo's studio has been completed. Typical backyard studio. http://www.johnlsayers.com/Pages/thirdeye.html

Wow. This is exactly what I want to put in my back yard. As soon as I buy my first home, construction starts immediately!

Beautiful! I want to do something similar within the next couple of years. Any chance we could see the floor plan? :D the cladding has an air gap behind, does this not cause it to act as a third leaf? (Is it cedar, it looks fantastic!)

Any chance we could see the floor plan?

It's a paid design for one of John's customers: I doubt that John would be releasing all the details of the design in the public domain, unless the customer agrees to that. Although he might release a basic overview, if we are lucky!

the cladding has an air gap behind, does this not cause it to act as a third leaf?

What makes you think the cladding has an air gap behind it? That isn't evident form the photos: it could be directly nailed to some type of sheathing that is on the outside of the studs (OSB, plywood, etc.), perhaps with a layer of Tyvek or something similar in between, to control water and air infiltration, which is quite common on building exteriors. If that's the case, then it is not a third leaf. - Stuart -

What makes you think the cladding has an air gap behind it? That isn't evident form the photos: it could be directly nailed to some type of sheathing that is on the outside of the studs (OSB, plywood, etc.), perhaps with a layer of Tyvek or something similar in between, to control water and air infiltration, which is quite common on building exteriors. If that's the case, then it is not a third leaf

I'm not familiar with Australian building practices sorry. It's normal to have the cladding battened off the wall then the vapour barrier then the osb, but that might be a UK thing, or more likely a wetter climate thing. Would be interesting to know either way.

It's normal to have the cladding battened off the wall then the vapour barrier then the osb,

You put the vapor barrier on the OUTSIDE of the wall in the UK? Normal practice is to put it inside the wall, up against the warmer surface of the wall cavity to prevent condensation. Surely, putting it on the outside in a cold climate would trap moisture inside the wall, instead of allowing it escape to the outside? - Stuart -

Yeah this kind of thing http://www.buildingboards.co.uk/wp-cont ... ertech.jpg

Yeah this kind of thing

That's Tyvek. Tyvek is not a vapor barrier: it is a water barrier, and also an air barrier. It stops water getting in and out, but still allows the wall to breathe. That's what it is there for: so that any water vapor trapped inside the wall cavity can escape outwards, to the outside world, while also not allowing any liquid water to get in. The actual vapor barrier goes on the inside of the wall cavity, up against the warmer surface, which in a cool climate is normally the inner-leaf. You should never have more than one vapor barrier in a wall assembly. There's a lot of confusion about vapor barriers, vapor retarders, water barriers, and air barriers: they are not the same thing. Some are always needed in a wall, some are not. And they all need to go in the right place in the wall, depending on climate. Since the UK is a cool climate, I would think that the vapor barrier (if there is one) should go on the warmer side of the wall cavity, facing the interior of the building, and the Tyvek should go on the outside, where it does it's job of preventing water getting in. - Stuart -

This should help guys - it's the internal before we built the inside shell. The ceiling solved our height problem. It's a product called Solarspan. http://www.solarspan.com.au/ It's a steel outer roof with a poystyrene center and an steel inner lining. It spans the full 7 meters without the need for rafters and battens. It's also cheaper. Yes - it's not the best outer skin but it works and saved us some ceiling height. Here's the framing - note the double layer flooring.

Cheers for the pictures John! That roof system is quite interesting. Stuart; I'm with you, thanks for allaying my confusion. :D

I know this is an old thread, but what are the dimensions of the structure? Looks to be about 24' x 24'; is that correct?

but what are the dimensions of the structure? Looks to be about 24' x 24'; is that correct?

The thread mentions a 7 m ceiling span, which is close to 23 feet, so you are probably right: the overall slab size must be around 23 to24 feet wide. - Stuart -

The building is 30' x 20' - (6m x 9m)

I apologize if this is out of place, but I would love to hire you to advise me on a similar project I'd like to build that may be about this size. I saw the link about forum posting rules but have only seen it re-route me to additional links that don't actually describe the rules. I live in Idaho where the climate is cold 7 months out of the year, there are dramatic temperature changes throughout the day in the summer (90 degrees F at noon, 55 degrees F at night), and snow loads are high. Heating and HVAC will be essential. I'd like to rehearse, compose and record in the same space. Drums, bass, guitar and maybe piano one day. Who should I speak with? And thank you for supplying such in depth knowledge. I've learned immensely over the last two days. Cheers, Brian [removed]

Hi Brian, and welcome to the forum! If you want to hire John to design your place, then contact him by Private Message, using the "PM" button under any of his own posts. You can write to him personally like that. For the forum rules for posting click here.. That will take you directly to the rules. - Stuart -

or email :D [removed]