Need help with irregular room layout/design

[MrLip]

I've got a spare room in my house that I'd like to turn into a studio/work room. I'm planning on a single room design (control room and tracking in same room.) I'll mainly be recording vocals, acoustic guitars, and some percussion. I'll also be mixing in here so I'd like the room to be symmetrical.

What's the best way to get the desired symmetry without wasting too much space?

I'll be mixing on nearfeilds (no soffit mounting) and I'm on a rather low budget. Basically I just wonder where I should put up new walls (if any.)

Isolation is an issue. The main reason I'm building the room is because I get no peace and quiet around here (screaming nephew, barking dogs, karaoke bar next door!)

The existing walls are brick w/ concrete. There are windows which I plan to fill in (with more brick/concrete). No sunlight, but it's probably the easiest way to get good isolation.

Ceiling height is 2.5 m.

Is John around?

*Drawing is not to scale

 

[knightfly]

John's probably gonna be tied up getting our server moved to the US so the downtime problem goes away - when you say brick/concrete, do you mean hollow bricks with concrete fill, or what? Is this a basement, or all above ground? Are there "weep holes" around the outer walls anywhere, or solid? What about ceiling construction? What's on the other side of each wall, and what's above?

Where does that door go, and if you need good isolation from it can you add a second door (making the room a rectangle, with a sound lock double door)?

Sound proofing is an all or nothing proposition, so I'd need to know as much about your construction as possible - if you can post more details, including a closer idea of budget, I'll help you work out a plan... Steve

 

[MrLip]

Sorry, I thought that "brick/concrete" might be a bit ambiguous. I meant that the 'inside' of the wall is brick (solid brick I think), then the brick is covered with a layer of concrete which makes up the 'outer' part of the wall (the part we can see and touch.) I'm not what the exact term is. In Thailand, almost all buildings are built with walls like this.

This is ground floor.

What are "weep holes" ?

In the updated drawing I have shown where the windows currently are. My plan was to 'fill-in' these windows with the "brick/concrete" thing above. Over here they just love to use brick/concrete for construction and from what I gather, this is the most cost effective way to get isolation (for the walls at least)

The ceiling is gypsum board and above that is the roof tiles (this part of the house is only 1 floor. It was added on to the house after the original contruction.) That I plan to take care of with rockwool and wood (based on John's designs from the SAE site)

 

[MrLip]

This is what I was thinking.

I fill in the north, east, and west windows, then put up a new wall. I was thinking that in terms of construction putting up a single wall with a double door would save me having to deal with the 3 existing doors individually (the bathroom door, the door into the house, and the sliding door to the outside.) It would also make the room symetrical. Of course, this wall would have to be wood, as that part of the structure cannot support the weight of a brick/concrete wall.

But looking at it now, I feel like it might be a waste of space. I also wonder what the acoustics will be like with a wood wall on one side and a concrete wall on the other.

I wanted to see what you guys thought.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Isolation is an issue. The main reason I'm building the room is because I get no peace and quiet around here (screaming nephew,

First issue to address is what your plans for HVAC are?
Sound isolation equals air isolation. Air isolation equals no fun. I would imagine it gets very humid and hot there. Add a couple of people and equipment to a sealed and insulated room with no active air conditioning or venting and you soon have a sauna. Acoustics and layout mean nothing at that point. My .02

fitZ

 

[MrLip]

Yes, I'm aware of the importance of ventilation and fresh air. I got some info about that on another thread (squirrel fans and s-ducts -- thanks again knightfly)

Any suggestions in terms of layout?