studio design

[borut]

If I was to build a new studio from scratch where would I turn to for studio design??

Who do fellow sluts consider to do it good without being too pricey??

If I'm building a studio from scratch, couldn't I just buy plans of already existing studios and save a bunch??

I'm thinking of a control room cca50m2,
one live room 100m2, another room 20m2 and perhaps two small boots.

My budget is quite limited, but my goal is to make a great control room and two good rooms!!

Who, Where, How much,....???

[Prince Alsihad]

Check out this forum. Very useful info:

http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php

[natpub]

George Augsperger for the simple, stright-forward, yet awesome--Primarily this is for acoustics/technical consultation, etc.

On the flip side, Russ Berger for a tad more pricey, yet includes some of the best visual design in addition to the acoustics expertise. Results look lavish but still very reasonable. We found RBDG to be fantastic people and super helpful at any stage of your thinking. Saved me tons of time.

Pricing varies depending on how much consultation you want, how much original design, how much hands-on involvement. It is kinda like an hourly thing--think lawyer. There are several other similar companies, but I know those two to be the best in the business.

Yes, you can just get plans and build it yourself or never even build it at all. Figure a few thousand just to begin to play, about the price of a decent compressor and way more valuable.

I researched all this quite a bit, and am basically waiting for my house to sell to begin. It was an eye opening experience. I choose to avoid going the self-design/homemade route, mostly because it all became very complex, and I hate spending money when I am not sure of having an expert outcome. Other people are really great at all that do-it-yourself thing, but we really want to focus on selling the rooms as much as anything, want highly professional results, and we are musicians not acoustical engineers.

In any case, bear in mind what you are pricing out is advice and design, not contracting or materials. You can get ballpark figures on final costs like that through your consultants, but prices vary so radically with location and such that it is unfair to expect your designer to give you that unless you pay them extra fees to go ahead and contract the whole ball of wax for you--then things can REALLY get pricey--kinda like asking your lawyer to set up your whole business for you, design your letterhead, logos, printwork, buy furniture, etc--so its like--Im sure they would do it, but at $300+ an hour??!! Would you really want it??


Cheers,

KT

[HudHudson]

I gotta agree with natpub on Russ Berger's team. They designed a wonderful facility for me (about the size you're describing) a few years ago (it was never built due to the stock market crash ) and were keen on delivering an acoustically-sound studio with the right vibe for my budget. If you PM me I'll share the details. The total cost of design & engineering was about 7% of the total construction cost (it was a ground-up build). That percentage would probably be higher for a smaller/cheaper facility, lower for a multi-room facility or a build within an existing structure.

There are so many things that can go wrong with a studio build - and so many more things that can be done right to make music production better/faster/more inspired - that a serious prospective studio owner should weigh the value of involving a team like RBDG, W/S, bauton, etc. Obviously choosing a studio design team is a personal issue (there are so many talented designers out there) just like picking the architect for a nice home.

I do want to share an anecdote about "wannabe" studio designers. I was referred to someone locally to build some huge labyrinth bass traps that Bruce Maddocks (Cups'N'Strings) designed for my control room. The guy had worked on some rooms around Austin but I'd never heard his name before. When I mentioned that I'd hired Russ' team to design my new facility the dude actually admonished me, saying he could have done the job better and at a third of the cost. Now this was only a couple months after RBDG had won its sixth TEC award for studio design. I politely told him he was full of shit and an idiot for dissing Russ and I hung up the phone. Badmouthing my choice of one of the world's most reputable design firms was not a good way to get invited to join my construction team.