9sqm studio, from scratch, dimension & splayed wall question

[Sick Astley]

I'm getting a garden room built and can just about afford up to 9sqm internal space for a production studio (KRK monitors for electronic music production).. I know this is very small but that's all my budget can stretch to...
I have a max height of 2.19m, most likely this needs to go down to around 2.13m at one end due to local planning limits of 2.5m external height. I think I need to have the lower end of the ceiling at the front shorter wall where my monitors would be.

Based on 1:1.25:1.6 ( I have averaged the ceiling height to 2.15m) is this likely to be the best dimensions I can get within my limits?...I cant afford beyond 9sqm..
2.15m H x 2.68 W x 3.44 L = 9.25sqm or 19.8 cubic meters

I can splay one of the walls, to fit to the offset of the garden at no additional cost, it would mean an offset of around 50cm at one end compared to the other. I was thinking of having a short front wall (where my monitors would be) of around 2.6 meters, length 3.44 meters, then the back wall would be around 3.1 meters. Is that worth it for the slight extra room volume and any affect the splayed wall would have on reflections?

I hope this makes sense and that I am asking with the right etiquette.

Thanks

[Soundman2020]

Hi there, and Welcome to the forum!

I have a max height of 2.19m, most likely this needs to go down to around 2.13m at one end due to local planning limits of 2.5m external height.

It sounds like you are doing this under the "Permitted Development" regulations? Take a close look at those: depending on where your studio is going to be situated with respect to the boundary lines, and the type of roof that you do, you might find that the 2.5m height refers to the eves of the building, not the peak of the roof. That could be as much as 3m. With careful design, you could have better interior height than what you are thinking.

Also, the permitted development limit is about height above ground, but there's no restrictions on how far you can dig down to lay your floor. It is entirely possible to do that below ground level. So ever though your roof height is only 2.5m, the actual floor-to-ceiling height inside the room can be much higher.

Based on 1:1.25:1.6 ( I have averaged the ceiling height to 2.15m) is this likely to be the best dimensions I can get within my limits?...

In your case, don't worry about modal response and room ratios: The air volume inside the room is far more important. The modal response is going to be ugly no matter what you do in a room that small, so instead of trying to find a good ratio, rather work on maximizing the volume and the floor area. Those are more important.

I can splay one of the walls, to fit to the offset of the garden at no additional cost,

If that would eat into your floor area or room volume, then don't do it. Also, if it would make the room interior non-symmetric, don't do it. Symmetry is very important for a control room.

Is that worth it for the slight extra room volume and any affect the splayed wall would have on reflections?

If splaying the walls would INCREASE the floor area and room volume, then yes it is worth it... as long as it does not make the room asymmetric. However, splaying won't have any acoustic benefits, because you need to splay the walls at least 6° each to get rid of flutter echo, and much more than that for an RFZ style control room.

I hope this makes sense and that I am asking with the right etiquette.

- Stuart -

[Sick Astley]

Hi, thanks Stuart.

Yes its within permitted development. It would be near a boundary and I think I'd have difficulty sinking the building. Mainly due to really bad access ) for the labour and cost of moving the earth away).

The extra splayed space would be free and additional to the space I would be paying for. The space I would have extra should allow for 6° as it's around 1 metre difference along the boundary over just a 3.5m length. I was thinking I could splay both left and right walls to the back so front wall and left and right are symetric then the back wall would be asymmetric, almost like a trapezium with me facing the short inside wall. The left and right could come away from the short / monitor wall at 96° or more angles. The back wall would have a 90 and an 78° corner (the 90° walls being the corner that you see from the house so it would just appear rectangular from the house)

I'm limited to mobile for most of this so am struggling to draw a rough sketch, that can be shared
Thanks again

[Sick Astley]

Just woke up and realised the above may be a TDLR lol....I suppose what I'm asking is

Would it still be of benefit if the back wall was angled off as above, which I think is a 12° difference from left to right across around a 3m wall?
- the main benefit would be the extra room volume the splay would give (not lost space), I just don't know if the back wall being that offset would cause some stereo problems from the reflections, I guess that's solved with some decent absorption (or some more acoustics I still need to learn)

Thanks

[Sick Astley]

Just wondering if there is any answer to this,

The room size would be a max 9sqm whatever I do. But I have the option to add a little bit of length to the back wall, maybe around 50 cm which would then mean the back wall is not parallel to the front wall. This would give me slightly more room volume but I'm not sure if having the back wall at such an angle would cause me L/R reflection problems.

I guess if I treat the back wall enough that would more than compensate as I would have gained a few m2 room volume?

I think that's what you meant Stuart.

Apologies, I'm just ready to go / sign up with this and farting around with the dimensions lol

[Gregwor]

You could probably get away with your rear wall being angled as long as you have a butt load of absorption on it. The stereo image shouldn't be affected because anything coming off of your rear wall should be quiet enough as to not even be "heard" (see Haas Effect).

Greg

[Sick Astley]

Ok nice.

Thank you all

[Sick Astley]

With regards to not worrying about room modes, I can't increase the room volume, if I increase length I lose width.

I'm just wondering if that's the case, if I only need 210 cm wide for my setup (2 screens and 2 monitors) should I squash the width for the added length I would get (could go something like 2.4m x 3.7m).... the length would mean I could sit more within the 38% and more length room for front and back room treatment....

If I could get the 17ft I would, but it's way out of budget!!

[Waka]

should I squash the width for the added length I would get

A problem with having a less wide room is that the first reflections from the side walls will be closer to the front wall. This may mean you have to push the mix position closer to the front wall (with possible modal issues) or increase angle of speaker baffle "wings" (assuming you're doing a reflective RFZ design control room).

I think in your case, it would be worth doing a quick design in each configuration and seeing which design seems to cause less headaches. With a longer design you have greater scope for rear wall treatment, but your speakers will be closer together. So do a quick design of both on sketchup and post it on here for opinions.

Dan

[Gregwor]

A problem with having a less wide room is that the first reflections from the side walls will be closer to the front wall. This may mean you have to push the mix position closer to the front wall (with possible modal issues) or increase angle of speaker baffle "wings" (assuming you're doing a reflective RFZ design control room).

I think in your case, it would be worth doing a quick design in each configuration and seeing which design seems to cause less headaches. With a longer design you have greater scope for rear wall treatment, but your speakers will be closer together. So do a quick design of both on sketchup and post it on here for opinions.

Dan

Agreed!

There are always compromises in studio design. Do as Dan has told you and draw up/ray trace each and try nudging everything around to find a happy balance between width/length. Wider = easy to design RFZ. Longer = better acoustics. Dan pointed out why going to narrow won't work as well.

Good luck and please share your results!

Greg