Existing HVAC: No returns at all?

A few engineers and I are renting out an office building right now for two studios. We're coming very close to rebuilding the one room into a legit studio, but we have a few more things we need to finalize(like the plan.. !!!) beforehand. As it stands now, there aren't any returns in this room. Just three sends. How should we go about changing this? From what I can tell, the return in the main hallway is just kind of an exhaust going directly outside. There are 3 windows in the room that we intend to block off.. could we use one of them for our own exhaust? I really don't know how we should set all this up. I'm attaching a photo showing the basic layout I had in mind and the general location of the current HVAC. The windows are along the bottom wall. EDIT: Sorry about the large image.

i51423 wrote:

From what I can tell, the return in the main hallway is just kind of an exhaust going directly outside. There are 3 windows in the room that we intend to block off.. could we use one of them for our own exhaust?

I doubt that the return in the hallway goes 100% to the outside world - that would mean that yuor unit has 100% fresh air coming in at the other end - otherwise it would not work - and that is doubtfull at best. The duct is most probably the return duct to the unit - and it should be relatively easy for you to tap off of that to meet your needs. As far as the windows go - I don't kjnow what you mean by "exhaust" - if you mean could you use the air conditioning and open the window to just let it blow outside - well that would make it kind of difficult for it to work properly........ although on days where it was cool and dry - you could use it for fresh air. BUT - then you have a problem with isolation from the outside world entering your studio - which may or may not be a problem for you - depending on your location......... only you can know that....... It sounds to me like you have a long way to go to just get to the point where you understand your existing systems and how they work - never mind actually designing your studio - perhaps you should consider hiring some professionals to check things out for you and develope some as-built drawins for others to review. Rod

rod gervais wrote:

i51423 wrote:

From what I can tell, the return in the main hallway is just kind of an exhaust going directly outside. There are 3 windows in the room that we intend to block off.. could we use one of them for our own exhaust?

I doubt that the return in the hallway goes 100% to the outside world - that would mean that yuor unit has 100% fresh air coming in at the other end - otherwise it would not work - and that is doubtfull at best. The duct is most probably the return duct to the unit - and it should be relatively easy for you to tap off of that to meet your needs. As far as the windows go - I don't kjnow what you mean by "exhaust" - if you mean could you use the air conditioning and open the window to just let it blow outside - well that would make it kind of difficult for it to work properly........ although on days where it was cool and dry - you could use it for fresh air. BUT - then you have a problem with isolation from the outside world entering your studio - which may or may not be a problem for you - depending on your location......... only you can know that....... It sounds to me like you have a long way to go to just get to the point where you understand your existing systems and how they work - never mind actually designing your studio - perhaps you should consider hiring some professionals to check things out for you and develope some as-built drawins for others to review. Rod

Hmm. I asked the landlord for a blueprint of the room and the best he could give me was a floor plan that doesn't even line up. I'm pretty lost as to the exact dimensions of the room. Do you have any idea how much it might cost to have someone come in and draw up the room? What type of service would that be considered? What I meant by exhaust was just simply a fan to take the "used air" out of the rooms. It seems that I was just misunderstanding the system as a whole. I really wish this place wasn't 30 minutes away so retrieving data I overlooked wasn't such a hassle. I'm beginning to get worried about the whole thing because the "plan" is to be building within the next 2 weeks. All we have is an idea. Nothing exact. No material lists. Nothing concrete in the slightest. My friend was basically going to just build and hope it worked out. I foolishly suggested to "do it right" and thus took on the design role. I don't know anything beyond basics and glancing over your book. :( I can't wait to see how much ends up being overlooked due to my inexperience. :oops: EDIT: I guess I should say that I'm assuming that we can't afford a complete professional design. We'll be building it ourselves with the help of some experienced carpenters. EDIT2: I guess I should also mention that we're mainly concerned with isolating all the rooms from one another. There's another studio in the building across from the left wall in the picture. There's probably 20' in between them in the form of a kitchen. The isolation between stands to be pretty good even with the construction now. Both rooms were tracking drums without an issue the other night. We're not super concerned with isolation from the outside world, but it wouldn't hurt. I'd imagine that building the rooms for proper isolation between themselves would help take care of the outside world anyway.

Awww..... come on now- planning to be in the building in the next 2 weeks without a plan - is no plan....... This is a commercial venture - right? which means you have to meet handicapped accessibility requirements ( of which i would guess you and your friends are no experts) - yes you woud be best suited to hire an architect who understands studio design....... no it isn't cheap ( I charge 125 Hr for site visits and thousands of dollars for design - just to get you into perspective) BUT - if you don't do it right you just spent a ot of money for a facility that people might not like to use - example- you said you aren't really concerned over isolation from the outside world - but I would be real pissed off to have a perfect take on a song - and then find out I have to redo it because a helicopter flew overhead and got into my mix....... or because of a car blowing it's horn......... and no - it's very possible that you coud get good isolation room to room yet have flanking noise to the outside world be an issue....... Usuallly a start up venture like this would begin with a business plan - you and your partners would develope a budget for design, buildout - furnishings - etc. then you would determine how much everyone was willing to invest - draw up some partnership papers ( or form an LLC or some other type of corporation to cover your arses) along with some business liability insurance - and THEN - you would begin putting it all together - If you were at this stage with a well thought out design - it would be just about physically impossible for you to build out and finish these rooms in 2 weeks. I think you need to step back and take a deep breath......... Sincerely, Rod

I had a feeling the situation would look something like this. We're not prepared. I'm fully aware of it. I'm just at a loss for what to do. I guess it's back to the drawing board. As it stands now, I'm just renting a room at the building to use for mixing/editing. My friend and I will be sharing one of the studios for tracking. He hasn't told me a budget, he had no real plan in the first place, I'm getting the idea that they want to "fly under the radar", etc. The list goes on and on. I'm seriously lost as to what the hell we're doing. We have the building. It's about 4500 sq. ft. with 2 studios and some smaller rental rooms. There's a business occupying a couple rooms and one of the studios. My friend and I will be occupying the other studio and my mix room. It's actually an awesome place with lots of room. I'm just lost. I'm in way over my head and we really need to regroup. Am I right in saying that it's ridiculous for a floor plan to not line up exactly? I have the floor plan the owner gave me and it's just not matching up. :? I need to get in there with some tape to get some real measurements or something. I'm not even sure how to go about that. :cry:

i51423 wrote:

Am I right in saying that it's ridiculous for a floor plan to not line up exactly? I have the floor plan the owner gave me and it's just not matching up. :?

Actually it's not that unusual- for example - I spent 2 days in an office building a short while back doing exactly that for one of my clients - they begin with an original building plan -- with tennant fit out - and then over the years make changes to suit new tennants - and you don't usually incorporate these into a new set of drawings.(or let's say nost don't - I always do it in cad - so my as-builts are always up yo date). But I would have to syay this is the norm - not unusual at all...... Now - if the major structural components were wrong - that would be different.

I need to get in there with some tape to get some real measurements or something. I'm not even sure how to go about that. :cry:

Awww........ that's easy - just take a clean sheet of paper - make a rough sketch of the space - it doesn't have to be to scale as lokg as all of the various walls and jogs are correct in general. The pop inside the room and measure all 4 walls - and from one wall to a door edge - and then write in the size of the door. The same thing with windows. do this one room at a time - pretty soon you will have all of the data..... you can then give that to a cad company that will turn it into an accurate drawing - for not all that much money. Rod

I located the return... it's right on the side of the damn unit. :oops: The fan/furnace unit is just in an enclosed closet-like structure in the kitchen. The send goes out the top and splits off into our side of the building. The return vent is mounted down low(practically on the floor) on the side of the little room. I guess we'll be running an awkwardly placed duct into our room from there. It's only about 6' over from our one wall. The return duct in the hallway that "went through the ceiling" does indeed go through the ceiling. It's just going directly to the bottom of the second AC unit for that half of the building. 8) We have someone drawing plans up for us now. Expect a construction thread sometime soon. :D Also, while I've got your attention, would it be a waste of time to just use pink fluffy fiberglass on the studio walls? Is rockwool or rigid fiberglass just a much better solution?