John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

hi all-

i had posted here awhile back as i was in the preliminary stages of buying a house, with the intent of building a studio. since then, i've had the fortune to experience the "joys" of owning a home. at any rate, i've taken my first stab at a design, and wonder if you'd take some of your precious time to give some feedback. i've got some contractors coming in this week as i start to get more serious about it. believe it or not, i've spent about 5 hrs tonight measuring, drawing on pen/paper, putting in photoshop, and STILL it looks like a 12 yr old did it!!! - i'm looking forward to learning how to use smart draw... (soon i'll be a pro!!!)

your input is much appreciated!
thanks,
nick


[/img]

i'm already replying to myself to add what i'm seeing where others forgot...

first off, with this design, it's meant to be a high level idea - and i'm not sure about actual wall sizes etc. basically, i intend to build everything out as i need it. the furnace, pipes, staircase and chimneys are the known factors - everything else is open for discussion. one dimension i left out was the distance from the west wall to chimney is 11.5'. the distance from the north wall to edge of staircase is 7.5'. the furnace wall (not yet constructed) should be about 4.5'. the north/south running line by the east chimney is where the floor drops a foot. the distance from this line to the end of the house is 20'. it's 6' from that line to the stairs. it's 11.5' from the left side of the stairs to the edge of the chimney.

the goal of the studio is to be an "advanced" home studio. i have the entire attic space to do as i please, and purchased this home specifically to build out a studio. there is only one residential neighbor - to the north, as the other sides are industrial. i am a little concerned about noise leaking that way. also - i plan on using the space as a practice space for my band. i'll be doing mostly rock/punk/indie stuff.

the dead room seems funny, i just can't seem to get my head around organizing the spaces properly. if possible - id like to fit a small bathroom in there, but i'm just not sure what the best way to go about this is. {and am willing to drop it if need be}

the control room may need to be bigger - right now i have a 24ch analog board, and 2 stand alone tape machines, as well as rack gear. i can forsee getting a larger format console and moving to 2" in the future - currently i'm using 1".

i am located in chicago - if that helps with respect to building products available, etc.

thanks,
nick