John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum

Hi Guys,

Great forum ,learning a hell of alot. Probably a bit too early to be posting, but I need a little info. I will be moving to a new house in a couple of months. It has a mammoth six car plus garage on the property. I dont have exact dimensions on hand, but you can get a idea of the size from the photo's. The roof is a big potential problem being so high, and massive.It has a mezzanine maybe 9 ft high that runs around 3/4 of the outside. It dosent extend as wide as the picture shows, thats bit of a camera trick. Id estimate it's maybe nearly as wide as a single car garage. Sorry for the lack of details at this stage. The photo is taken right at the entry door.

So great blankish canvas. The bad news, it is just a all metal stud frame with the typical garage style metal skinning as the walls with a concrete base.

Would this framing and skin count as a LEAF?

Im envisioning two leaf style rooms constructed inside. Im afraid I already know the answer. Im not sure that frame would support any sort of beefing up. Not to mention the out of reach roof line. Ideally, I could get a rock band in there and not have to kill the budget or the neighbours. However, I realise the budget and practicality issues of the structure may well dictate what I end up with.

I cant really even get started on a very basic design philosophy. Days of searching and reading here I have found situations kind of similar to this in terms of garage builds, but not having a ceiling of resonable height to work with has me stuck on where to start. Id ideally like to go the CR. drum room, voc. booth concept. I have thought about building in round the mezzanine area downstairs. Seems like such a waste of space and height though. The alternative though, building outside the bounds of the mezzanine, would involve constructing roofing. Framing Im ok with and have done a bit of, roofing...I have no idea. Of course, $$ are a issue (when are they not, for anyone), so this is a consideration as well.

Im by no means asking for someone to do the design work for me in any way. Id just love some ideas at this stage. Something practical to chew on, go away and learn Sketch up ,and come back with something solid. Thank you so much.

80 views and no one has any thoughts at all?

My main concern with going away and planning from here is ceiling height under the second level you can see there. It is approximately 7ft high to the bottom of the joists.

ok ok, is it THAT baffling? 110 views and counting and no one has anything to say?

I think you'll get more input if you give a bit more to go on. From your postings a lot of what you speak of leaves a lot to imagination. You state in your post that the photo is misleading, and you speak from a mezzanine. You talk about a massive ceiling - what do you mean? How is it constructed? How are the walls constructed? In the first post you talk about the roof being 9' high, in the next post you talk about being 7' to the joists. You say: "My main concern with going away and planning from here is ceiling height under the second level you can see there." No I can't see it there? And you're baffled?
Try providing a floor plan of the current building with dimensions and whatever specifications might apply perhaps in 2 elevations if necessary - include actual construction details where possible.

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Brian
As you slide down the bannister of life, may the splinters never point the wrong way...

Echoing want Brian said: There isn't enough info in your original post to be able to help much.

I'd suggest that you model the existing room accurately in SketchUp, and post the SKP file here, so we can get a much better idea of what you are dealing with.

YOU can see it all just fine from where you are: we can't! All we have to go on is one photo from one angle, and vague details about the rest.


There's no simple answer to that. Best guess?: "Probably". It all depends on what you plan to do in there, what your goals are, how much isolation you need, how you plan to achieve it, etc. If the rest of the construction is massive enough, then it might not really act as a leaf. But if the rest of the structure is light (for example, if you don't need much isolation) then it probably will act as a leaf. It all depends...


- Stuart -

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I want this studio to amaze people. "That'll do" doesn't amaze people.

Understood. When I move there I'll repost. I'll be only mixing in there with occasional instruments,no drums. So the inevitable sacrifices I will have to make I may get away with