Price estimates for an Australian home studio

Hi all! Ok, finally we've purchased a piece of property with which to build a studio and flat! I've spent the last month here reading everything I can get my hands on but I've run into a couple of problems. Mainly because I know NOTHING about building, so while a lot of stuff makes sense, the logistics of it goes right over my head - and I'm definitely not going to be doing much myself - it'll probably be all up to the architect and builders. So methinks getting the full 'works' from John may be the go. Otherwise how could I be sure the architect knows about correctly floating the floors, keeping the walls de-coupled, importance of using the right caulk etc. The thought of having a complete expertly designed schematic would certainly set me at ease. But before I can go too far down that road, how much is it all going to cost? I really need to be able to get a ballpark figure or estimated cost range for something built fairly well - before I can find out if it's do-able or if I need to scale back. So here's the plan, but it comes with a serious 'amateur with drawing tool' warning. The sizes of the wall spaces and walls certainly aren't accurate - it's a bit wonky but more info in a minute: edit: oh yeah, the green things are.. um.. kindof checking space available in the corners for traps. i'm no artist : )

Ok, so i'm in Hobart, Tasmania. This building (when built) will be about 15m away from the nearest house. The picture above shows only the downstairs part - and the flat would be upstairs. We are considering using 250mm Hebel bricks from the outer-layer as we are already in possession of a reasonable amount. If possible I'd like to be able to record drums in the small hours. So I'm sure this is feasible, but is it feasible with just: <250mm Hebel> <Air gap><Insulation><3 wallboards of some sort>? Maybe add resilient channel to that? Any other solutions? Unfortunately I can't actually GIVE a budget for this. The money being spent isn't exactly mine :) long story, however we've already purchased the land so we're hoping to reach a budget that should be acoustically and isolationally(?) sound. If able to be provided with some rough estimates as to where this will be landing us - it'll help greatly to solidify things and help me to keep moving forward. Estimates would not need to include the concrete slab above the studio (which can be of any height) or any of the kitchen/toilet area. And how would certain improvements affect this price? Vaulted ceilings? I'm sure I'm missing a lot of info here, sorry if I've left anything important out - and thanks very much for any input you guys might be able to offer on the design, costs, materials, anything! Cheers!

Oh.. and primary use of this studio is tracking (more of a muso than an engineer) although I'm hoping that a control room that size would still be good enough for serious mixing if required?

Ok, so people go pretty quiet when you bring up the subject of money. In fact a couple of threads i see here go completely dead after people start asking about costs. Well, all I can get from a builder is the cost of a HOUSE that size - but we don't wanna go to the trouble of getting this thing expertly designed then find it'll cost twice as much as we expected. So i'll make this easy for you Aussies with a bit of know-price: +++Can this thing be built for $80k? (Not including concrete slab over top to upper level - or kitchen/lounge area - ONLY for the studio space including external walls)+++ I'm not gonna hold anyone to ransom if their estimate's off :) Just need to find a starting point. Thanks everyone!

It's a weekend, so be patient. Sometimes it takes a few days to get nibbles on a thread. :) --Keith :mrgreen:

sharward wrote:

It's a weekend, so be patient.

Crikey that fact had actually slipped my mind! Didn't mean to appear impatient though.. super-keen maybe :P