John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

I am building a 80m2 studio from the ground up here in Central Portugal. The studio was partially design by Stuart Allsop, who used to be on this forum. Construction starts on March 9th, 2021.

The GOAL: Create a studio with world class acoustics.

The STUDIO:

The building will be 11.2 x 7.1m. The height is 5m, in the back and sloping down to 4.2m in the front. Inside we will construct three rooms: The height of the building to the eves will range from 4.5-3.8,m, and the interior heights of the ceilings in the rooms will be minimum:: Control Room 3m, Live Room 3.5m.  The control room is aprox. 5m long x 4.2m wide.  Floor area: 21m2, room volume: 58.2 m3.  The live room is 5.4m x 5.9m.  Floor area: 31 m2, room volume: 109.2 m3. 



Building

The Building is to be constructed on a massive concrete slab, approx. 50cm thick. Curl form layer, vapour barrier, smoothing layer, thermal insulation in the floormate system, lightweight concrete and final layer of cemented cement ready to receive flooring. Conduits for the power, microphone tie lines, CAT, midi, XLR returns, LRS, Headphones, etc.. will be placed in the floor and run to the 4 walls of the live room and control room.

At the back of the building (which backs up to a huge granite wall), we must construct a 30cm x 5m tall retaining wall with steel. A drainage tube is placed at the back of the wall and lined with plastic to protect from water entering into the building. This will then we surrounded on two sides but 40-6cm thick granite stones. So we will have a massive amount of isolation on three sides. The building is being constructed by a local company called Waters Edge. The build will be made of 25cm thermal blocks with 10cm of insulation and a vapour layer to protect against humidity. This is using the technique in Portugal known as the capotto system.

Roof

Concrete beams. Slopping roof with 6cm of insulation and red roof tiles.

Studio Inside

Stuart created a basic design and this is what we are going with but since he never finished it, Joules Newell, is finishing the design with modifications and will build the inside of the studio. Joules and his team have travelled all over Europe building world class studios, so I trust that this will be done properly. They plan to isolate the control room from the other two rooms and construct the three rooms using 2 leaf MSM construction with two layers of plasterboard (the most inside Eco). The windows will be double pained and laminated on the inside. From what I understand, Joules will use a suspended ceiling in the live room.

http://www.newellacousticengineering.com/

HVAC

The HVAC system will be installed above the small entrance room with the ducting and silencer tubes in the ceiling of the control room, where they will also exit the building through a gap in the granite wall structure. The studio will have about 200m3 to air space. I would like to error on the side of caution though and have a higher capacity then calculated since it can be quite hot in the summer and wet and humid in the winter here.

Projected Time Line

March-mid May to construct the building (depends on the weather)
June-July- Joules and his crew complete the inside.

Estimated Budget:
70,000€.

Once this post is approved I will post weekly updates.

All the best
ricardo or Scott or Dr Space

One thing I should add that I need advice on is I am using the Yamaha HSM80 monitors which have a rear port and we plan to soffit mount these. What is the best way to do this to make sure they get ventilation, etc? One suggestion was to block the port but I worry that this compromises the speaker design and could lead to damage the speaker? Any thoughts??
Thanks
Dr Space

there are a number of folks who have mounted the yamaha. of course a front port would be nicer but the LF components of the response will be suppressed by the interior of the baffle system. my recommendation is build the ventilation using duct board so its a nice even flow from top to bottom.

Best of luck with that. The design probably deserves a higher class of speaker though, IMO. Neumann KH310 for instance.

Wow.. Glenn.. that looks great and I will send this to Joules for sure. They started today but no large progress as they are still just clearing the site for the foundations. Thanks for the comment about the monitors, Dan.. I understand that a lot of people consider them low class but I have made some amazing mixes with them and my ears are used to them now after so many years.
Dr Space

You're the Doctor..... Well how about make spaces in the Front Wall big enough to accommodate any future speaker.

Very good idea Dan.. I will make sure to put this on the list. Thanks.

Day 6- march 15th
They set up the crane today. Work on the foundations will continue tomorrow. The steel cages will also proceed tomorrow for the foundation footings.

Progress..
dr space

whoo-hoo! big crane country!

March 16th

Great weather and Paul and his two helpers did a great job today. The corner of the ruin was cut off, the foundations for that side of the building cut dug out, the kiwi transplanted, the steel cages for the rear foundation put in place.. Looking good… I took a lot of pictures.

March 17th

Weather was amazing today again and they got all the foundation footings dug out now and have laid the steel cages in 2 of the 4. It is looking good and concrete has been ordered for next weds to do the first pour. I took a few pictures but was a way most of the day.

March 18th

They had to get some supplies from another site so were not here til about 11 today. Only Paul and Gil. All the footings are dug out now and only one more small cage for the right side and then the rest of the steel. They still look to be on target for having all the steel in place for the cement next weds. Progress…

March 19th

All the footings are dug out now and the cages in. Some steel still missing but they will finish this and put in the vertical steel on monday and tuesday. Cement comes Weds.. It was a great day today. They got a lot done.

A couple of pictures of the progress on the foundation footings. A lot of steel!!!





So far so good...

Vaya con dios

March 22nd

José and Gil showed up about 8:45. Weather is awesome. They will focus on the steel work and the frames for the front of the foundation. Paul showed up for a little bit today and said he will have all the paper work for the camera tomorrow. Concrete is postponed until Thursday afternoon but they will also book the cement for the foundation for the Tuesday the following week. Then they work on the wall!!! That will take an entire week.

March 23rd

Gil and José just got on with the steel work. All is ready for the footings so they are starting to make the steel for other parts of the structure. Paul came later today with the papers I need for the official license. Looks like I will go with the architect Thursday. Concrete has been delayed until Friday afternoon, so they will not show up the next two days. Joules will come back with the diagram for where the tubes will go in the foundation for the electricity and cables tomorrow as they expect to pour the first foundation next Tuesday and then that Friday the floor. After that they can build the retaining wall.

March 25th

I attempted to go and get the official license today but turns out that I still do not have all the documents according to Pedro. He filled in the Livro da obra so I don’t need to have Pedro with me next time but I still need a proper health and safety document (signed) and also another letter for who takes responsibility. Also, a major fucking headache now, is that Paul told me that it was ok to change the build if you make it smaller but not larger. Pedro said this is not the case. You have to build the exact building that was approved at the camara. The engineer who is signed on as responsible, if he comes out the site and sees that the building is different and then writes in the Livro da obra, that there have been changes, then you will have to submit a new project at the camara to get approval. If this happens, I am going to have to charge Paul this money as he said it was ok. Also Pedro said that you would have a funny shaped roof now and that cutting the tiles in this way leaves open a much greater chance for water to get in and under the roof compared to a completely straight roof. He recommends that we make the roof straight anyway. Fuck…

March 26th

The guys showed up about 9 and kept on working on preparing the steel for the beams, roof, etc.. Paul come about 10-11 or so. Not sure exactly as I was working in the garden. The concrete pump showed up at 13:45 and got in place. There was just enough room for them to put the extension legs out. Not much room to space. It was two concrete trucks, 12m3 of concrete. All poured in less than an hour. Gil lead the hose into the footings and Paul went around with the vibrator machine that gets rid of the bubbles and makes the whole thing smooth itself out. They had to adjust the steel bars a bit but that was it. Went very fast and smooth. great job guys. Paul said it would be hard enough tomorrow you could walk on it but it will rest until Monday…

March 29th

I went to the camera to turn in all the papers and try to get the official license now. Sadly, they wanted everything digital (first time ever, I was asked for digital stuff) so I have to wait to get some documents from Paul in digital form and then I can send them via email and they will respond and then I will go back in. Anyway, the guys took the frames off the footings and started to frame the foundation and lay the drainage pipe that will go around the perimeter of the building. They also put in the 10cm tubes that will carry the electricity and other cables into the control room. They laid down some black water sealant as well. Looking great…

April 1st

Paul and the guys arrived about 12:45 and put the bricks and got their laser level set up, boots and tools and waited. The concrete pump arrived about 13:45 and the concrete truck a few minutes after. IT all went very smooth. 6m3 was enough to do a little less than half and it went fast. Overcast and a tiny bit of rain so good weather for concrete pour. The 2nd truck was just perfect and it was all over in 20mins. They are smoothing it all out now and gathering the concrete off the drive that was dump out of the pump truck and will add this to the foundation. Went very smooth. Quite a downpour for a few minutes so there is a small lake in one area now but rest looks good.

I got the bill today and not Paul. Quick look and I could not see the cost?? 1081€ Now this will sit and cure until next Tuesday. Perfect.. Next up, the retaining wall construction and the block construction.

berry berry nice! does that very tall sandy-looking earth wall behind your foundation need some reinforcement?

The sandy looking wall is actually granite!!! The ground is granite as well. Seemed strange to dig out 40cm of the granite, which is pretty solid and fill it with concrete for the footings. The next step is to build a 5x11m retaining wall at the back with steel. 30cm thick.. They will start to do the framing next week..