Church to Studio conversion plans

[derrils]

Hello,
I'm in eastern Pennsylvania USA. My wife and I purchased a former church that we're converting to a home and recording studio. We'd like it to be a small-mid size commercial facility. I've been in touch with an architect to draw up initial plans that I'd like to share and get some feedback on. I think the image restrictions here are a bit small and would ruin the readability of the plans, so in addition to including them here, I'll also link to an imgur album that has them larger as well as some photos of the space as is now.

ConstructionDocuments-A-1_1.jpg

ConstructionDocuments-A-2_1.jpg

Photos and larger plans here: https://imgur.com/a/UK188sF

If you're looking at those photos, the control room would occupy the corner that is behind the drummer's right shoulder. Or, when you're looking at the big stained glass window, on the left side of the photo.


Goals:
I'd like to record and produce music of all genres. I currently work with rock, pop, and folk acts as well as commercial music beds of all watered-down genres and voice overs. I plan to have 24-36 channels of AD/DA with a small-ish format mixer like API's The Box or an SSL XL Desk. monitors will be Focal Trio 6 BE's.
I'm flexible on budget, but I have a rough number of $20k in mind for construction/treatment.

Questions
I'm unsure of my control room plans. It currently has a 45 degree wall with a window, but I worry that I'll need more room to fit the gear, myself, and 4-5 clients.
It has an 8' ceiling that I'm second guessing.
The architect planned for 2x6 double wall construction, but I'm wondering if I should reduce it to 2x4's to gain a bit more room inside.
Please let me know if you have any suggestions or need some more info. We haven't bought materials yet, but I'm hoping to soon.

[gullfo]

as a commercial studio - ensure that you're considering ADA requirements throughout as well as fire safety, security (equipment, people, etc), and noise ordinances. heating/cooling are important as is fresh air exchange since to achieve isolation (even if just between rooms) will require continuously fed fresh air and removal of stale air.

i haven't looked at the full size plans but it seems to me that you could build a larger control room, especially needed if you're looking at 5+ people in the room, perhaps even a number of them performing (keys, guitars, bass are common).

what do the room elevations look like? what is above the 8ft ceiling?

[derrils]

Thanks for the reply.

Luckily, the building was already commercially-zoned, so it has the access, etc.. needed, but you bring up a good point about airflow. There is a window in the control room area now, but when we do an HVAC overhaul on the space in the coming year, we'll have to address that.

The only elevation view is on the second page of the plans I uploaded, but it's a bit cluttered. I forgot that had made some very basic 3d renders that were built on top of the plans the architect provided. I think they'll give some additional perspective.

Above the 8' ceiling currently is a loft area, accessible via a small spiral staircase. I could raise the ceiling a bit and make the loft more of a storage space, which is what I'm considering now.

loft view2_1.jpg

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loft view1_1.jpg

[gullfo]

if you have the option to raise the CR to 10' or even 11' it would work better, then i would resize the CR. maybe contemplate a rectangular type (could have an angled wall on live room side) since it may be more effective use of space.

[derrils]

I spent a little time reworking my renders according to this advice. Raised the ceiling of the control room to 10', removed the 45 degree wall/window, and extended the CR footprint as much as possible.

I added some more windows, which I'm sure I'll have to talk to my contractor about, but without that 45 degree wall, visibility seemed to be really hindered.

Current plans are to use 2x6 walls with a 1" air gap between the studs, plus resilient channels to hang drywall on. The stickied post seems to have a lot of broken links and may be a little out of date. Is this still the generally accepted construction best practice? I'm also a little worried that the corner between the windows will be a weak point for isolation, but I'm not sure by how much.

StudioPerspective.jpg

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[gullfo]

do you have the source floor plan as a DWG?

[derrils]

Unfortunately I don't. It was only provided as a pdf

[Paulus87]

You have potential for a fantastic space, it deserves to be designed by a studio designer. Consider asking John to design it, if not then ask one of us on here. It will save you a lot of time, effort and money and you'll end up with a facility that can compete with the best.

Due to lack of knowledge - but not lack of enthusiasm - you're chasing your own tail with these trial and error designs.

It is worth making something spectacular in this space rather than something inherent with problems, no matter how good your intentions.

[gullfo]

maybe shift the CR location.

[DanDan]

Have you considered using it as is....... Great tax free earning potential

[derrils]

I realized you'll need some more detail, so I made a sketchup model of the church without any studio in it. Is there a better way to share sketchup files? Mine is pretty bare and it's 3.5mb, which is much too big for this board.
You can download the model here if interested: https://we.tl/t-zZEnofoOcg

maybe shift the CR location.

I can't put the control room there because there is a pipe organ living in that spot. There is also a large "window" with louvers to control the volume of the organ. On the other side of that window is the pipe room with all of the ...pipes. I really appreciate your help and interest in this project. Hopefully the sketchup model will help provide enough context.

The other corners have entrances, portions of the altar, the large feature window, and a pellet stove that helps heat the space. So it's difficult to find another spot for the control room. I'm still open to ideas though. The skp file is to scale, so I have any measurements that might be helpful.

Keep in mind the altar area is raised by a foot and has another 6" riser in the center of it. We also hope to host some small-scale live performances here when that is allowable. The altar makes a great little stage.

If you have the motivation and generosity, I'd love to hear how others might lay out this space. Some pics of the sketchup file are attached.

@paulus87 I hear you and I'm looking into that as well. If you have suggestions on designers, feel free to share them. I am concerned that I don't have the budget, but of course I won't know until I explore that path. Even if I do, having done some research and exploration here will only make me more informed.

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[gullfo]

it would be helpful to know how the stair cases are used. also feasibility of moving the pipe organ. it would be a loss (imho) to block the large stained glass window, then again it might be necessary for sound isolation. if the stairs the left of the stained glass are not right up to the door, you might put the CR there at the expense of the stained glass being blocked.

[derrils]

The stairs are 57" back from the double-door entrance. That wall is structural - it is below the bell tower and also has the main floor electric sub-panel. I think moving it would be out of our budget, but happy to hear any suggestions.

I updated the model to show the vestibule with those stairs. It's the main entrance to the building - the front door shares the same plane as the large stained-glass window.

We definitely have to make some compromises between aesthetics, acoustics, and finances. I think keeping the large window open to the live room is one of them - when people come here to record, it won't be for a large-format Neve or an endless mic locker - it'll be the space and vibe. That said - the window is basically a noise generator as it's not far from the street. That'll be it's own discussion. For the moment I'm hoping to workout the footprint of the space.

@Gullfo - check your email as well, I'll be sending you a message soon.

Thanks again!

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[Paulus87]

Sorry if this has been brought up already but have you considered an all in one room?

Funnily enough I'm also in the process of designing a studio for a client which is also in a church, and here in the UK we have an incredibly successful studio also built in a church, and is actually called "the church studios" which is now owned by producer Paul Epworth. You might recognise the studio from a rather famous Adel music video:

https://www.thechurchstudios.com

Although he has a few different rooms for mixing and production, the main studio is a hybrid room with the console at one end and the rest of the space as the tracking area.

It has several advantages (engineer/producer/artists all in the same room makes things quicker, more room volume for your mixing and tracking environments, cheaper and faster to build) with very little disadvantages that can't easily be overcome (record with main monitors muted or very low, guitar iso cabinets etc).

It would allow you to maximise your space without major renovations and would have a great vibe for yourself and the musicians.

In any case it would be get rid of the pipe organ or the feature window, and it seems you would have to do one or the other if you wanted to make the most of the space. Even relocating the pipe organ would be a logistical nightmare. Having a pipe organ and a window that are two of the things that are very likely to sell the space to people.

[gullfo]

here's another option that puts the CR off to the side so the bulk of the room is still wide open.