Opinions on new layout for commercial studio

[MountainSound]

Hey people. I visited this place about ten years ago and received stellar info regarding my first studio build so thought I might re visit and see what you thought about the layout of the next one!

See attached image. The outermost and largest dimensions you see are internal space. The control room has a 200mm raised floor for the front and an additional 200mm step up at the rear. The ceiling will be splayed (2700mm @ front, 3300 @ rear).
The tracking area in front of the control room will have wooden floors and a dead ceiling. The existing ceiling is 3300 high but I will be lowering it down to 2800mm. Walls will also be of absorption type. Tuning obviously will take place once the main structure is up. Sonically, my aim for this room is for it to be a controlled, warm and "fat" sounding space. Floor will also be lifted 200mm.
Amp room is... well.. an amp room! Isolation world!
The live room is at the moment all brick walls, a wood slatted vaulted ceiling and carpet over slab. It sounds pretty great at the moment but needs help controlling standing waves. Want to keep this room bright and bombastic so thinking l will just go for corner traps, some broadband absorption in a few areas and diffusers.

I guess my question to the community is do you see any major acoustic or aesthetic problems with the layout that I'm not seeing? The first studio build was a huge learning experience and rather stressful! I just want to get the bones of it all right from the start this time around.

[gullfo]

are there any entry/exit doors into the space? existing windows? ceiling height and/or changes in ceiling height?

plumbing? hvac? electrical? to be concerned about?

what are you trying to achieve with the "tracking room" vs "live room"?

[MountainSound]

Hey Glenn.

Since posting, there has been a change made. Unfortunately there was a miss communication regarding the size of the existing room where the control room will be built and to save money on console cutdown costs (56 channel frame down to 48), we've decided to make the control room larger to accommodate the full 56 channel frame. I'll attach the new plan that includes clear markings on entry/exit points and existing windows when I get home.
The existing ceiling height for the area in which the tracking area, amp room and wc will be built is 3300. The room where the control room will be built has an existing ceiling of 3400. All these areas will have a raised floor. The plan for the control room is to slope the ceiling upward from front to back on a to be determined angle that absorbs any early reflections or kicks them to the back wall which will be made up of a large quadratic diffuser and trapping. FYI I'm going for a LEDE layout for the control room as I think the new size can accommodate this. Again, I'll post the new plan when I can for you to check out.
On the plumbing side of things, there are already fittings close by that can be tapped into so not much of a worry at this stage but have a plumber coming out in the next week to confirm. Electrical is sorted and we have appropriate HVAC systems good to go from the last studio build which will be relocated here.

The difference between the tracking area and live room will be in the room response. The idea is to give the "tracking area" a lower absorbent ceiling and reflective timber floor. For the walls, a mix of broadband absorption and diffusion panels along with bass control in corners.
The "live room" already has a vaulted timber ceiling with a peak height of 4200 in the centre and it slopes down to 3300 at either end. The floor is carpet and the walls are brick. There's a bunch nasty flutter echo in there at the moment which needs to be tamed but I want to keep the space sounding bright and bouncy. When i said "live" i suppose i was referring more so to the acoustic response rather than the "space where a band can play"!
The freelancers that use the studio will be mainly using the place to record drums and acoustic instruments so rather than having to roll in an array of baffles, blankets and other sound control panels to achieve a tighter sound in a large room, the plan is to have two spaces that offer the acoustic choice between a tight, controlled and more intimate room response vs a loud, bombastic, high energy space.

[MountainSound]

Here's the new layout including info you asked about. The only change was the width and length of existing room where control room will be built. They were reversed in the first image I posted! Rookie mistake!

[gullfo]

any option to put the bathroom into a shared space that the CR and live/tracking rooms can access? (e.g. off an common air lock space?) maybe it would help if we saw a drawing of the raw space you're trying to fit into?

[MountainSound]

Hi again!

Ok here's the raw space I'm working with. Total bare bones! In retrospect, I really should have just started my post with this! Ahh well!

As you can see there is an additional window and a hallway i didn't mention in my previous post. Apologies.

Heres the existing ceiling heights for reference as well...

Existing Lounge - Vaulted ceiling - 3300 at east and west ends, 4200 in the centre
Existing Garage - 3400
Existing Workshop - 3300
(The reason for the deviation in ceiling height from the garage to the workshop is a slightly lower slab floor in the garage)

FYI - The existing walls that make up and separate the garage, workshop and lounge are double brick with a 50mm air gap between. The dimensions you see are internal space which have been triple checked.

So the studio is being built in the second wing of a large house set on a 15 acre property. As you can see, the proposed tracking areas do share the kitchen/bbq area that has easy access to the proposed bathroom position. From the control room its just an extra walk either through the live room or around the outside and through the door that leads into the end of the kitchen/bbq area. There are water lines in multiple areas and the toilet will be a macerating kind so can pretty much be put anywhere but want to keep it indoors. There is also a full bathroom up in the house where the accommodation is through the hallway from the existing lounge. I originally put the control room in the existing lounge but the vaulted ceiling in there is amazing for recording live instruments so really wanted to take advantage of it. After 3 or four different layouts, I ended up putting the control room in the garage so that there could be a line of sight between tracking areas for musicians. Also, the console we'll be bringing in is a 56 channel SSL. At almost 4 meters wide she's a big one! The idea of a large garage door to bring it in would make the transition very easy. Once in, my idea was to build in the back wall in a modular fashion with the final "seal" being the large quadratic diffuser you can see in my previous post. In the event we decide to go with a different desk in the future, we can "unplug" the back wall and get it out.

[gullfo]

any option to put the bathroom in the covered kitchen area where presumably you'll have plumbing and drains? then perhaps switch the control room and tracking room positions. use a large TV on the side of the tracking room to provide a "window" into the live room space. more ideal (imho) would be to enclose the entry loadin area to create the live/tracking/iso rooms.

[MountainSound]

Hey Glenn,

Apologies for the huge delay in response. Life sometimes gets in the way of things!

Regarding your questions, I'd like to keep the bathroom indoors. the position could be up for debate but where I placed it seemed to be the best access for anyone in the covered kitchen which is where clients can hang out in between takes. The covered kitchen area also has a bbq, dining table and pool table as well so not much room to add an external toilet. The paved area cannot be closed in completely as it would ruin the aesthetic of the house which is something I have to be mindful of. It's a beautiful home and thats how I want to sell the studio. An awesome house in the country that has a high quality recording studio at its heart. Unfortunately though, treading that line is hard as i have to compromise somewhere and working with pre existing spaces is also a bit of a pain but i have to work within the limitations. To be completely honest, the only areas that can be truly played with in layout and design are the tracking area/iso/bathroom space (EXISTING WORKSHOP) and the control room space (EXISTING GARAGE). The live room as I said is amazing for recording drums with its vaulted ceiling so the idea of it being used as just a lounge would break my heart!

As a matter of interest and if you have the time, utilising the space given in the "garage" (6684 x 6000 x 3400) how would you layout an RFZ or LEDE control room if you were designing it? I'm struggling to nail down something that will fit the SSL and keep the room feeling as spacious as possible. SSL is 3646 x 1230.

[gullfo]

can you share the plain SU file?

[MountainSound]

Sure!

Here you go.

[gullfo]

maybe something like this - which is close to your original and updated plans:
- take part of the load area and make a hallway / air lock (maybe a window for aesthetic and natural light)
- still don't like the bath inside the studio but hey, it's your studio
- the band around each room is wall treatment space. control room as addition treatment to shape the space.
- control room full extended to allow musicians inside leaving other rooms for drums and amps - etc

[MountainSound]

Hey,

Thanks a lot for the design idea! So great having another brain thinking about it! I like the external hall that joins the areas. Great idea. I also thought on your suggestion of the bathroom in a different position as well and think i've come up with a solution. As far as the extension of the control room rear wall you've done, I'd love to be able to do it but unfortunately it's just not possible. I have to work within the 6 x 6.84 space that I have at my disposal. I understand it's not ideal but thats what I have.

I took your idea of the hall and pushed it to the other side of the control room and added the bathroom at the end of the sound lock. I also reworked the control room a little. I understand that angling walls can be very helpful at deflecting first order reflections away from the listening position but it can also take up a lot of space. Would the new design I have prepared with straight walls still work? On either side there is 300mm of space for sound treatment and double that plus more in the the corners at the rear. With some strategically placed membrane absorbers, a healthy dose of broadband absorption and diffusers for mid to high freq control would I be able to achieve a well balanced room?

[MountainSound]

A 3d version of what i'm thinking for the control room. No real treatment in there yet as you can see. Just guilford of maine over open walls and the 12 degree sloped ceiling at the front which flattens out in the rear. Still not sure about the ceiling as I know the more volume the better but with straight walls I figure I can help push some pesky reflections away with the ceiling. I'd also use the cavity between the inner ceiling and existing ceiling as a large trap.

[gullfo]

yes, these ideas are looking good!