My First Post Ever!! & My First Studio Design (in a 72' x 25' block building)

[mike-661]

Hello to everyone on this forum. I'm a new user and would like to share my studio design with anyone who has the time to look at this.

I've seen lots of others show their studios on here, and to be honest with you, that's probably what inspired me to get moving on my own studio.

I have a 72' x 25' concrete building with 10'-7" ceilings and think it's about time I build a studio for the first time in my life. I will equip the studio with my harrison console and bunch of other gear of mine and a few other guys nearby.

My drawing doesn't have the rooms labeled, but I don't think that's a problem for you guys. I also haven't included any of the bass traps or acoustic treatment in the drawing since this is strictly the structural design.

As of now I'm thinking of using the auralex U-boats (since I haven't had luck finding any other neoprene pads that I could just slap under the floor joints). 2 x 4 subfloor, triple layered surfaces on the floors, walls, and ceilings with some sort of material between each layer.

As of Friday, the zoning department has decided to allow me to put my studio in this commercial building. Now I just have to play by the rules and get a design that myself and YOU can agree with.

If you have ANY ideas or considerations about my design, feel free to throw in your $.02 because I can guarantee I'm lacking most of what you guys know or have done already about building a quality studio.

Much thanks in advance,
Mike


P.S.
if anyone wants to request the sketchup file in case you want to edit it, let me know so I can send it to you (if that's possible) thanks.

[mike-661]

My very first question that I can't stop thinking about is:
considering I don't have any doors going directly from either ROOM to ROOM (I have every door open up directly into a hallway instead) do I need any sort of soundlock or make more doors throughout the hallway to keep the sound from traveling where it shouldn't? I notice most designs I've seen have the double door setup which I always thought I wouldn't need but am really not sure.

I'd really like to keep the rooms as sound leakproof as possible (I can now see why airtight construction is so critical)


thanks again,
Mike

[Glenn Kuras]

I think for a project this size you need to hire a room designer to help you out. Not that we can't give you some great ideas, but if this is a commercial building there are curtain codes you need to stick with. Yes proper design is important but wrong code could close you down..

I will say right of the bat though that most of the "smaller rooms" are just way to small, IMO.


Glenn

[Doublehelix]

I would also get some advice on those U-Boats. I have no personal experience with them, so I am only passing along "internet gossip", but a lot of folks that I respect greatly do not care for the U-Boats, and think that you would be better off not floating the floor at all rather than using them.

Of course, they could be wrong.

Take Glenn's great advice as well and get a consultant. Also, you WANT to make sure that you take your acoustic treatment into account as a part of the initial plan. This is critical!!!

Get some professional help my friend, it will be WELL WORTH the money!

[mike-661]

Glen, I really agree with what you said. I thought about it, and it's worth getting a pro involved.

Do you know of or have any person or company you recommend for this?

I'm in Clearwater, FL

BTW, I don't know what the cost is for having a place like this designed. Is there there a price I should expect to pay? (buy the plans from the designer so we can have our own guys build it for us)

Dhelix, If that's' the reputation of U-boats, I think I'll toss that product overboard and go with something else... I'll be glad to find another alternative, any suggestions?


Thanks,
Mike

[jwl]

There are many studio designers out there. 2 that I'd recommend off the top of my head are Wes Lachot and our own Gullfo (Glenn Stanton of Running Brook Design).

The problem with using the Auralex U-boats is that Auralex has not released the specs on them, so that the designer can calculate the number and spacing of the pucks to ensure that they really do float the floor. The pucks have to have the right weight per puck: enough to "compress" the pucks enough that they act as a "spring", but too much so that they "bottom out" and are unable to absorb sound.

To quote a very good article on the subject:

How will you ensure that your floating floor will actually float?

In order to connect two things to each other without the connection point being a bridge for energy to travel across, there must be an elastic polymer ("elastomer"), a spring-like rubber substance. DuPont's "Neoprene" and ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber are commonly referenced in floating floor designs and other engineered acoustic isolation construction devices.

Imagine putting a 15 pound weight on a spring that "bottoms out" at 10 pounds. The spring is completely compressed. The weight is unable to bounce on this overloaded spring, and therefore is not isolated from the surface below.

The same holds true of a lighter weight upon a heavier grade spring. Imagine a 10 pound weight on a spring that does not begin to compress until the weight reaches 15 pounds. The weight is too light to cause the spring to compress, so it too is unable to bounce, and is therefore again not isolated from the surface below.

Now, imagine an entire room floating on springs made of rubber pucks. How do the rubber pucks deflect under the loads of the room? Are parts of the floor loaded more heavily than others? Are the walls erected on top of the floor, and if so, is the weight of the ceiling overhead transferred to those walls? If so, the perimeter of the room is much heavier than its unfurnished middle. How many pucks should be used? How far apart should they be positioned? Should they be closer around the perimeter to account for the additional weight of the walls and ceiling? How much closer? Should the elastomers around the perimeter be harder/stronger so as to handle the additional weight? What about the dynamic loads of the varying number of people and gear that will be inside the room? What about the lifespan of the elastomers under the loads -- how long will they last before they lose their elasticity and "bottom out," rendering them useless?

These are not easy questions to answer! Yet we often see cases where people either do not think of these questions, do not take them seriously when asked, or resort to guesswork when attempting to answer them!

The fact is, a floating floor that is not engineered to account for all of the above questions is most likely doomed to fail to meet its designer's intentions.

Apart from that, you shouldn't need a sound lock if each door opens into the hallway. In this case, the hallway itself is acting as the sound lock.

The floor plan looks decent, though I'm not sure you need so many small rooms. I'd gravitate toward fewer but larger rooms, as it's difficult to get tiny rooms like that to sound good. It seems like there is some "wasted space" in the bottom right of the drawings; what is that triangular structure that the hallway curves around? Is it important enough to lose so much room space over?

[Glenn Kuras]

There are many studio designers out there. 2 that I'd recommend off the top of my head are Wes Lachot and our own Gullfo (Glenn Stanton of Running Brook Design).

Plus one for ether of these guys.

Glenn

[mike-661]

I think I just made a quick but wise decision.

I had a feeling that in no time after building the studio myself, that I would end up tearing it down, or building a new studio after that, and can you say "money down the drain"? I'm not prepared to make that mistake, so I just spoke with Wes for over an hour.. He'll fly down here in 2 weeks and see the project through from start to finish with all of the detailed plans and I know the entire studio will turn out well..

Thanks for recommending him

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by mike-661

I think I just made a quick but wise decision.

I had a feeling that in no time after building the studio myself, that I would end up tearing it down, or building a new studio after that, and can you say "money down the drain"? I'm not prepared to make that mistake, so I just spoke with Wes for over an hour.. He'll fly down here in 2 weeks and see the project through from start to finish with all of the detailed plans and I know the entire studio will turn out well..

Thanks for recommending him

Good deal, tell Wes I said HI!!!!!!

Glenn

[rimskidog]

Sweet. My new place has very similar dimensions. Am just trying to work out a basic floor design I like so I can get a designer in. Would you mind posting your basic floorplan here as soon as you have one?

Cheers
Trev

[jwl]

Originally Posted by mike-661

I think I just made a quick but wise decision.

I had a feeling that in no time after building the studio myself, that I would end up tearing it down, or building a new studio after that, and can you say "money down the drain"? I'm not prepared to make that mistake, so I just spoke with Wes for over an hour.. He'll fly down here in 2 weeks and see the project through from start to finish with all of the detailed plans and I know the entire studio will turn out well..

Thanks for recommending him

Sweet! You are in very good hands.

[mike-661]

Trev, I'll see what Wes allows me to show online. He'll be here on the 17th, so I'll give him time to draw it up.

I've been in touch with him quite a bit over the past week or so,. I'm gonna learn alot from this guy! The studio design is DEFINITELY in good hands

For any of you who haven't heard or seen the work of Wes Lachot, check out his website.

here are some projects he's done:
Wes Lachot Design || Studio Design and Acoustic Consulting

and some of the testimonials:
Wes Lachot Design || Studio Design and Acoustic Consulting

Mike