Design Ideas?

This will be a 2 room facility, unless a small iso booth makes sense. It's in an old renovated school in eastern Canada on the ground floor. Apologies for the crude drawing, but it_is_to a 1/4" scale(per foot). It's essentially a 22X30.5 ft open space at the moment. We originally wanted a wall diagonally intersecting the I beam at 10degrees, but have since wondered about more dramatic geometry. Our budget will be up to 10,000. I'm moving from an existing studio and will bring doors, windows when we move. I'm leaving neighbors out of the equation for the time being. The only concern is right above on the main floor. No problem supporting double layer walls and doors. However the tbar ceiling is at 8.5' with an additional 22" above that. Can a large amout of soundbatting(3 or 4 layers) give a decent STC? I can't envision a drywall ceiling. I guess no matter how much sound batting you put in above the tbar, daytime drums won't be a possibility. Any one else been through this? cheers and many thanks in advance, jazzdude

Aloha and welcome to the forum, jazzdude! :D Congrats on your studio build! Any chance you could please:

Edit your profile to include your location. This is very important, because this is a worldwide resource, and as such, material costs and availability vary widely. For example, masonry is cheaper than gypsum in some parts of the globe, whereas it's the exact opposite in other regions.

You'll probably get more of a response by doing so and this will really come in handy two or three posts down the road. It's also part of the forum guidelines: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3231 Thanks!

It's essentially a 22X30.5 ft open space at the moment.

What would be your ceiling height in the main area?

However the tbar ceiling is at 8.5' with an additional 22" above that. Can a large amout of soundbatting(3 or 4 layers) give a decent STC? I can't envision a drywall ceiling. I guess no matter how much sound batting you put in above the tbar, daytime drums won't be a possibility.

Link on ceilings: http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html (click on construction tab at left, walls & celiings tab at top) Be sure to check out the rest of the tabs at the SAE site for more great info. Looking forward to your build! Aloha 8)

Cool... Eastern Canada!!!!! :D :D I'm from Halifax, live in Florida now. Where exactly are you located? (And do not not forget to edit your profile as Kendale mentioned... this is also so that is shows up on every post of yours) Good luck on the build, I'll be following. Marc

I'm in St John's, Marc and thanks for the prompts on profile. As for the ceiling, there doesn't appear to be any pertinent info on the SAE site re: ceiling tiles and isolation. I'll keep hunting, meanwhile, if anyone has had experience with this, please post. We're gettin anxious. Also, there seems to be a lot of sliding glass in many of the sketches. Are they preferred to plate glass? cheers, jazzdude

Aloha,

As for the ceiling, there doesn't appear to be any pertinent info on the SAE site re: ceiling tiles and isolation.

If you are seeking isolation to avoid disturbing your neighbors, the principle prescribed in this forum has been: Mass-air-Mass. (for example: 2-3 layers of sheetrock - 6"-12" space filled with rockwool - 2-3 layers of sheetrock) Ceiling tiles, as in drop ceiling installations, while providing a small measure of acoustical treatment, will not provide isolation, especially for drums and bass freqs. If isolation is not an issue, then the area above the ceiling tiles is also a good place for bass hangers.

Also, there seems to be a lot of sliding glass in many of the sketches. Are they preferred to plate glass?

John Sayers on Sliding Doors http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html I personally like sliding glass doors in studios because of the visual communication they afford. Like windows they can't be parallel so I always put them at an angle in the horizontal plane. (The vertical plane creates unbelievable problems with runners and seals.) Sliding doors can be made of either timber or aluminium. Seals. Naturally a glass sliding door will not have the sound isolation of a hinged door purely because of the construction complexity but if you use a quality door and discuss the seal problems with your local manufacturer you can come up with a pretty good seal. Thickness. I recommend you use at least 8mm (5/16") glass but here again the thicker the better but too thick makes the door extremely heavy to slide. Insulation. Once again the cavity between the doors must be lined with insulation to stop the reverberation within the cavity. The same method as in the window (i.e. cloth over fibreglass over fibreboard is the simplest system.)

Here's a variation of a design by John that's close to your layout for a few ideas. Hope this helps, Aloha 8)

Thanks for your interest Kendale. I've got 8.5' from floor to the suspended ceiling, but, as is often the case, starting to rethink my plans. Since there's over 10" to the old ceiling, I would likely be better off with a "real" ceiling, at least in the live room, plussc being able to angle the ceiling as a bonus. Good idea? So much for the budget! :? cheers jazzdude

That should read 10'(feet) to the old ceiling...8.5' to the t-bar. jazzdude