Need help properly utilizing this space

I'm setting up a project studio with some friends. We don't have a ton of money, just a love for music. We're going to lease some office space. The intended primary use for the space will be recording live pop/rock music. Here is the floor plan: The small room is 11.5'x21' The big room is 19.5'x21'. The walls are made of concrete blocks, including the wall between the rooms. There is two glass windows between the rooms, but I'm sure they could use some improvement to prevent leakage. There is wall to wall carpeting. The ceiling is about 10' but there is a false ceiling about 8' high, with flourescent lights. Underneith the false ceiling, the real ceiling is cement with exposed duct work. We have permission to do whatever we'd like to the space to suit our needs. The first thing I'd like to do is remove the false ceiling and install some track lighting. How should I finish the ceiling? I'm trying to educate myself as best as possible, but there are so many variables, it seems as though the materials of the walls effect what you do to the floors, which effects what you do to the ceilings, ect. It's a bit overwhelming. This may be a work in progress for a while, but I would really appreciate anyones input on how to best utilize this space. I should mention that I have a lot (around 16 total) of 4" and 2" mineral wool panels that I had in a previous space, so they could be used for temporary acoustic treatment, until we are able to build the room up properly. Thanks so much!

i like the idea of taking off the 8' ceiling but you might be able to just remove the tiles and put in some bass trapping overhead and replace the tiles with plastic and cloth to keep the highs intact and give you lots of bass trapping... on a low budget though, you might be better off sitcking to making sure the isolation is good. in the CR you could build some 45 degree soffits to accomodate the space and replace the windows with a single larger window. put in some slat resonators in the corners.

A little more info: The setup is going to be a DM3200 in an argosy console, hr824's and hs50s for monitors. Not a lot of outboard right now, just some pres. I need to be able to track live drums in this room. I'm thinking about covering up two of the doors, the amount of entry ways into the studio are a bit excessive to me. Also, I don't know how possible it is to make a bigger window... it's a cement block wall, so I don't know if it's load bearing, but it would have to be expensive to do, even it is possible. What about materials? My girlfriend is a interior designer and she has suggestions about lighting and flooring, ect, but she doesn't know much (or anything) about acoustics. She has an idea for a stained plywood floor that she says will look really cool, but that will be pretty reflective right? Is that something I should wait to do until we can cover the concrete walls will drywall?

i'd consider staining the cement floor. polish and stain can make it look really pretty nice plus its really durable, easy to clean, and if its too reflective for some particular situation - pop on a rug. depending on your budget, it might feasible to just join the two windows into one (assuming the load bearing aspect is considered and addressed) without making it too large and costly.