Northward studio - another studio building thread!

Anderson · 6th December 2005

So, after months of problems with my previous landlord, which would not allow me to start the construction of my new studio in his building although I had rented it for that purpose

and ended up telling me two months ago that he would destroy the building in June 2006 to build Lofts

, I have found a new place just outside Brussels, in Rhodes-St-Genese, a quiet and comfortable suburd south of town. Lots of trees, that's a good start.

Yesterday the works began!

To start with, the new studio will have a ~40sqm CR (52sqm raw) and a 90sqm LR. Dimensions are CR 6.5m/8m and LR 6.5m/14m. I will be using some new building techniques I've been working on recently - especially new floating concrete floor systems and new iso panels, the LR will also feature full floating concret floor and offer 3 different kinds of ambiances (partly modular systems).

There will also be a bar/lounge with all the toys, a small kitchen and an office. I will keep the structure this way until I have (hopefully) enough demand to make it grow a bit more by extending the LR to 120 sqm, and maybe... maybe... opening a small B studio (yeah... right...)

Anyway, I will try and keep the thread alive all along the construction untill the opening party - where I hope to see some of you! I don't want to set a date for the probable end of the construction since it is mostly self-financed by my small company, but I hope the CR will be finished by march and I will be able to bring the Amek console in a that time - a good first goal.

Cheers

Anderson · 6th December 2005

The studio is on the first floor ...One thing I like a lot about the building is that bringing the console in won't be too much of a headache thanks to this big opening! I'm still very stressed about moving it anyway

Anderson · 6th December 2005

Here comes some of the 2000+ concrete bricks needed... Ahem.

Anderson · 6th December 2005

Bricks...

Jules · 6th December 2005

Fantastic!

Another studio build thread!

Love it!

**Lindell** · 6th December 2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anderson

There will also be a bar with all the toys,....

NOW THAT's WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT

joaquin · 6th December 2005

FELICIDADEZ!!!

nobtwiddler · 6th December 2005

Anderson...
As we all know, the bar of course is the Key Ingredient in making a successful studio~!
Trust me I know.
Haha

Best of luck with everything.
Paul
www.millbrooksoundstudios.

Anderson · 6th December 2005

Thanks everybody!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lindell

NOW THAT's WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT

Yep, Mr.T... a bar with a pool table, a PS3, LOADS of belgian beers, comfy sofas with a kåt kvinna right there for you

A-hem...

Otherwise, a first wall appeared today, "spooosh" there it was. This is in one end of the live room, the entrance will be on the right side. We are doubling all existing walls for maximum mass with 19cm concrete blocks - filled with a special sand. Soundproofing is a tough thing...

djui5 · 6th December 2005

This is gonna rock!

Faderjockey · 7th December 2005

Cool.....

zimv20 · 7th December 2005

i love these threads. best of luck with the buildout.

stevep · 7th December 2005

Cool !!

Some other poor fellow to suffer along with me In the studio construction thing.

Its great to see studios being built instead of torn apart and sold one piece at a time.

Keep up the good work !

steve

.

Anderson · 13th December 2005

Little update from the works. The CR and LR concrete walls have been almost completed, but the workers had to make the CR 80cm less large... due to the concrete engineer's report saying the building floor had been overloaded at one point in the past, and he was not sure putting so much heavy concrete there was safe. So we had to build the wall closer to a beam. That's the way it is, so the raw space for the CR is now ~6sqm smaller. Luckily it was the part where the machine room was going to be, so we "just" have to have it somewhere else - the CR will only be around ~1sqm smaller

It was a close one!

This is a view from inside the CR to where the window to the LR is going to be. It's a small window (220/95cm), enough to have an eye contact with a singer or drummer, not a whole band.

Anderson · 13th December 2005

Back of the CR, on the right is the wall that had to be closer to the beams.

stevep · 13th December 2005

Looking good, That window size should be fine . Smaller windows = less sound transmission and cost less. If you have to move around in the room to see someone ... no problem!. Actually some musicians like it better when everyone in the control room is not staring at them

Keep up the good work,

steve

Drumsound · 13th December 2005

My window is to my left. I hate the idea of some guy staring down the players.

PlanB · 13th December 2005

Hey Anderson,
This is way cool! When it is finished, I will surely take a look and visit you in Rode (if allowed of course)

One suggestion: how about showing the floor plans?

Have you decided yet on what console? How high are the ceilings?

Good luck!

Arthur

Anderson · 14th December 2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by PlanB

Hey Anderson,
This is way cool! When it is finished, I will surely take a look and visit you in Rode (if allowed of course)

One suggestion: how about showing the floor plans?

Have you decided yet on what console? How high are the ceilings?

Good luck!

Arthur

Thanks Arthur!

You're welcome anytime, just drop me a PM or call me! I will surely show the floor plans when they are definitive... As I said, we had some engineering pbs with the building so they are changing a bit all the time - which is what happens every time one builds a studio anyway. But now that all the walls are up I will post the plans soon!

The console will be my Amek Rembrandt 56 (see my avatar) with 48 mono inputs and 4 stereo inputs (112 channels in-line). It's a very nice console - I love it!

The ceiling height which is now of 3,37m will be of 3,14m when all is finished in the LR and of 3m in the CR. It's a bit low in the LR for my tastes, I would have liked a good 3.60 - but I could not find a better building either in or a bit outside of Brussels. It was either lots of columns but high ceilings (making it impossible to have a decent space for the LR) or bit lower ceiling but less columns. If everything goes right, I will have the ceiling taken 2m higher on half of the LR area - maybe in 2 years or so. First I need to see if I get enough clients!

Cheers!

Anderson · 14th December 2005

There you go, I made a small drawing of the actual studio space, easier to look at than a packed AutoCad file!

Cheers!

PlanB · 15th December 2005

Thanks Anderson.

This is gonna be one cool place. I will call you soon (I'm in the middle of a production right now and time is tight

thumbsup

If you need help in some way, don't hesitate to ask!

Cheers
Arthur

r0ck1r0ck2 · 15th December 2005

well....what's on the 2nd foor?
pound open the ceiling in the tracking room
no WAIT...
dig the floor another 20' deep!!
...looks reallly nice though...
lovely really....
i'm sure your back is aching....

Anderson · 15th December 2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by r0ck1r0ck2

well....what's on the 2nd foor?
pound open the ceiling in the tracking room
no WAIT...
dig the floor another 20' deep!!
...looks reallly nice though...
lovely really....
i'm sure your back is aching....

Thanks! Well, actually the studio is on the 1st floor, so digging is clearly not an option

.

On top of the studio is a flat roof - and since it's an industrial building, there can be some sort of a second floor added on top of mine without much troubles. The only difficult part is cutting the 30cm of concrete that the ceiling is made of without ruining the LR too much. Heavy stuff, but the architect said it wasn't too much of a problem...

Cheers!

Doublehelix · 15th December 2005

In the US, "the first floor" means "the ground floor", in most of the rest of the world, "the first floor" means "the first *elevated* floor" above the ground floor.

Anderson · 15th December 2005

I did not know that... thanks!

jim demetri · 15th December 2005

now this is what i like to see , studios being built. warms the hart instead of doom and gloom .all the best luck in the world with the build and the biz . did you finally work out the problem with the phantom power on the desk ?

Jeff19 · 15th December 2005

i think having the studio on the (american) 2nd floor is a good idea. espeically if you are not sure if the place will flood or not.

looking forward to seeing the work...

Anderson · 15th December 2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim demetri

now this is what i like to see , studios being built. warms the hart instead of doom and gloom .all the best luck in the world with the build and the biz . did you finally work out the problem with the phantom power on the desk ?

Well, I didn't really push further on the phantom power pb as of now, I did ask Matt Syson about it and he (as usual) gave me many very good advices. I think I will take care of it after the console is installed in the new studio. My guess is that the cable sending the 48v to the channels is deffective, or that one channel is deffective (short circuit) and thus creates a general pb. Anyway, I will ask Matt to drop by and check the whole console - it will take him 5 mins to figure out what takes me 4 hours...

jim demetri · 15th December 2005

trust me the best move you can make is to fully install the desk and get matt to go over it . i got him to come and do our rembrant and i couldent belive the speed that he solved the problems we had . you can get him to upgrade the automation cards as well he installed higher rated components. also he modifiyed the power supplys so that the inicial surge on power up was lowered .

Revilo · 16th December 2005

Looks cool man! Best of luck with constructing proces thumbsup

6th December 2005	#1
Anderson Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 472 Thread Starter	Northward studio - another studio building thread! So, after months of problems with my previous landlord, which would not allow me to start the construction of my new studio in his building although I had rented it for that purpose and ended up telling me two months ago that he would destroy the building in June 2006 to build Lofts , I have found a new place just outside Brussels, in Rhodes-St-Genese, a quiet and comfortable suburd south of town. Lots of trees, that's a good start. Yesterday the works began! To start with, the new studio will have a ~40sqm CR (52sqm raw) and a 90sqm LR. Dimensions are CR 6.5m/8m and LR 6.5m/14m. I will be using some new building techniques I've been working on recently - especially new floating concrete floor systems and new iso panels, the LR will also feature full floating concret floor and offer 3 different kinds of ambiances (partly modular systems). There will also be a bar/lounge with all the toys, a small kitchen and an office. I will keep the structure this way until I have (hopefully) enough demand to make it grow a bit more by extending the LR to 120 sqm, and maybe... maybe... opening a small B studio (yeah... right...) Anyway, I will try and keep the thread alive all along the construction untill the opening party - where I hope to see some of you! I don't want to set a date for the probable end of the construction since it is mostly self-financed by my small company, but I hope the CR will be finished by march and I will be able to bring the Amek console in a that time - a good first goal. Cheers Attached Thumbnails

6th December 2005	#2
Anderson Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 472 Thread Starter	The studio is on the first floor ...One thing I like a lot about the building is that bringing the console in won't be too much of a headache thanks to this big opening! I'm still very stressed about moving it anyway Attached Thumbnails

6th December 2005	#3
Anderson Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 472 Thread Starter	Here comes some of the 2000+ concrete bricks needed... Ahem. Attached Thumbnails

6th December 2005	#4
Anderson Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 472 Thread Starter	Bricks... Attached Thumbnails

6th December 2005	#8
nobtwiddler Lives for gear Join Date: May 2005 Location: Millbrook, NY Posts: 2,153	A Man after my own heart! Anderson... As we all know, the bar of course is the Key Ingredient in making a successful studio~! Trust me I know. Haha Best of luck with everything. Paul www.millbrooksoundstudios. Attached Thumbnails

6th December 2005	#5
Jules Gearslutz.com admin Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: A Yank in London, UK Posts: 17,356 1 Review written	Fantastic! Another studio build thread! Love it!

6th December 2005	#7
joaquin Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: CHILE-Miami Posts: 1,198	FELICIDADEZ!!!

6th December 2005	#10
djui5 Lives for gear Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Phoenix Posts: 6,661	This is gonna rock!

7th December 2005	#11
Faderjockey Lives for gear Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Baltimore Posts: 1,892	Cool.....

7th December 2005	#12
zimv20 Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Chicago Posts: 1,622	i love these threads. best of luck with the buildout.

7th December 2005	#13
stevep Lives for Jesus Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: orange county ca. Posts: 2,935	Cool !! Some other poor fellow to suffer along with me In the studio construction thing. Its great to see studios being built instead of torn apart and sold one piece at a time. Keep up the good work ! steve . __________________ Steve Perkins Steve Perkins Fishing.com Creation Recording Studios .com Take a Kid Fishing Outreach John 3:16

13th December 2005	#14
Anderson Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 472 Thread Starter	Little update from the works. The CR and LR concrete walls have been almost completed, but the workers had to make the CR 80cm less large... due to the concrete engineer's report saying the building floor had been overloaded at one point in the past, and he was not sure putting so much heavy concrete there was safe. So we had to build the wall closer to a beam. That's the way it is, so the raw space for the CR is now ~6sqm smaller. Luckily it was the part where the machine room was going to be, so we "just" have to have it somewhere else - the CR will only be around ~1sqm smaller It was a close one! This is a view from inside the CR to where the window to the LR is going to be. It's a small window (220/95cm), enough to have an eye contact with a singer or drummer, not a whole band. Attached Thumbnails

13th December 2005	#17
Drumsound Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Bloomington Il Posts: 5,032	My window is to my left. I hate the idea of some guy staring down the players. __________________ Tony Oxide Lounge Recording See the Oxide Lounge! Follow me on TWITTER! WWJMD? Come see me on the Tape Op boards! It's only inches on the reel to reel

13th December 2005	#18
PlanB Gear nut Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Belgium Posts: 123	Hey Anderson, This is way cool! When it is finished, I will surely take a look and visit you in Rode (if allowed of course) One suggestion: how about showing the floor plans? Have you decided yet on what console? How high are the ceilings? Good luck! Arthur

14th December 2005	#20
Anderson Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 472 Thread Starter	There you go, I made a small drawing of the actual studio space, easier to look at than a packed AutoCad file! Cheers! Attached Thumbnails

15th December 2005	#21
PlanB Gear nut Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Belgium Posts: 123	Thanks Anderson. This is gonna be one cool place. I will call you soon (I'm in the middle of a production right now and time is tight thumbsup If you need help in some way, don't hesitate to ask! Cheers Arthur

15th December 2005	#22
r0ck1r0ck2 Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Barcelona!! Posts: 1,618	well....what's on the 2nd foor? pound open the ceiling in the tracking room no WAIT... dig the floor another 20' deep!! ...looks reallly nice though... lovely really.... i'm sure your back is aching....

15th December 2005	#24
Doublehelix Lives for gear Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: USA Posts: 1,016	In the US, "the first floor" means "the ground floor", in most of the rest of the world, "the first floor" means "the first elevated floor" above the ground floor. __________________ DH "Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded." -Yogi Berra

15th December 2005	#26
jim demetri Gear Head Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 58	now this is what i like to see , studios being built. warms the hart instead of doom and gloom .all the best luck in the world with the build and the biz . did you finally work out the problem with the phantom power on the desk ?

15th December 2005	#27
Jeff19 Gear nut Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 96	i think having the studio on the (american) 2nd floor is a good idea. espeically if you are not sure if the place will flood or not. looking forward to seeing the work... __________________ I have the answer to all of your questions: Be a slut and buy them both. "That's what I say...but then again, i eat my own poop", Triumph the Insult comic dog

16th December 2005	#30
Revilo Gear Head Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Bucharest Posts: 58	Looks cool man! Best of luck with constructing proces thumbsup

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