Hi Guys,
I've been a member of this forum for a few years now and dropping in now and again to read up and what is going down and being inspired by others studios.
For years I've had a tiny little bedroom studio that I've just tried to make the most of but I have the opportunity now to join forces with another studio, which has been running for a few years and build it into something better.
I'm looking for any help those of you with more knowledge than I can give into the redesign and rebuild into something great.
Basically the current studio is on the 1st floor of a commercial building with tenants above and below and was designed to run as a studio since the early 80's I think. The control room walls are built out of brick, with the exterior walls being brick as well, the thickness is around 18cm.
I'd prefer not to knock down the walls on the control room and try and rework it to be a usable space, the speakers can be stand mounted, or soffit mounted. There is already a control room window (2.40m x 0.95m) looking into the current live room mounted into the walls with slot resonators and sloped ceiling, which at it's highest point is 2.93m and lowest 2.51m, and it is raise 0.43m off the ground with an air cap separating the floor below, with a false ceiling. Currently the walls are covered in a layer of old cork and fiber tiles, but these will come off in the redesign and rebuild.
Here are a few pics:
Control Room with 'Dipped Ceiling'
External image, not preserved — original: http://www.matt-allison.com/sui/sui_control_room_roof.jpg
Control Room Window
External image, not preserved — original: http://www.matt-allison.com/sui/sui_control_room_window.jpg
The total height of the building is 3.55m, with the roof of the second floor being a suspended ceiling, which transfers sound down into the space and you can clearly hear the people above walking around, and so a 'room in a room' was built to deaden this, and a 'live' room and a smaller 'rehearsal' room and in place, which are made out of particle board.
Here is a shot of the total height
External image, not preserved — original: http://www.matt-allison.com/sui/sui_sidewalls_roof.jpg
'Inner' LIVE Room and 'REHEARSAL' Rooms
External image, not preserved — original: http://www.matt-allison.com/sui/sui_inner_rooms.jpg
What I'm really hoping to do is to keep the current control room but redesign it to be more effective looking into a 'new' live room and next to that to put in a Studio B, like the one Joel did below, with a small vocal/live booth and control room, looking in onto the bigger live room.
External image, not preserved — original: http://www.matt-allison.com/sui/studio_b.gif
The other features that are fixed are 3 toilets and an office, maybe we can leave a walk way around the live room and Studio B for easy access to the toilets and office, without compromising on the sonic quality of the rooms.
And finally, here is the room layout:
External image, not preserved — original: http://www.matt-allison.com/sui/sui_floor_open_plan.gif
Any layout suggestions would be MOST appreciated, or if anyone has done something similar or can cross reference another thread it would be great. I've SEEN many studios already and tried to use the search, but what do you search for!
Thanks again, I look forward to your help in the redesign and hope you will walk with me as I set out to tackle this adventure.
Cheers
Matt