2001 Relocation Project

the following page originally covered our last relocation in 2001, but much of the information applies equally to our 2003 move to doncaster as well so i've left in some of the original information.

Well, after the first two years of tollbooth's history, the pressures of single room operation finally got to me, so in 2001 we started looking round for new premises. Despite a couple of dodgy estate agents, we finally found a place with some great outbuildings in the garden, with lots more room to expand in the future.

The following page not only gives an idea of how we've gone about moving the studio, but also covers some of the considerations we're having to make like planning permission, building regs, soundproofing etc.

I'm hoping that it will not only be interesting to any of you setting-up or modifying your own project studios, but also serve as a record of the evolution of the new studio.

in 2003, the restrictions of TWO rooms finally got too much and we again looked round for new premises - to allow us finances to re-equip the studio we knew we had to move out of the south-east and so we returned to our spiritual home in the north (if the wrong side of the pennines) namely - doncaster.

If there's anyone out there who has any comments on the studio, how it could be done better, any comments you might want to add, or even if you reckon the walls should be a different colour, then you can email me here:

The studio has now moved back into a domestic environment, but we now have three larger rooms than we have ever had before. The house is an end-terrace / town house in an urban area. The studio is now on first and second floor levels.

Control Room is about 13' x 12' x 9' high, joined to the main terrace on one wall. Roughly parallel walls are broken up by a chimney breast and alcoves on the back wall and a chamfered wall in the doorway.

Live Room 1 is adjacent on the same level with corridor isolation from the control room and no adjoining wall to the terrace. Dims are roughly the same as the control room.

Chill Out / Vocal Rm is up a level in what used to be attic space. Isolated from the terrace by stairs, there is good isolation from adjacent noise and the road due to the height. Dims are apx 12'x12' with a slightly lower ceiling. The floor has recently been strengthened to allow heavier traffic. This is designed to be a 'liggers' room and also double as the main vocal recording booth. There is a small G4 audio edit suite networked to the main studio in one corner.

The second source has been conversations with my local planning and building control office. Though seemingly scary places, I actually found their advice very helpful, and will probably save huge amounts of time and possibly money in the long run. The planning system in the UK is now handled by the Office Of The Deputy Prime Minister (oh yes!) so i'd search for books at HMSO if i were you!!

Various studio suppliers have also been very helpful in advice on soundproofing and control materials. The chaps at Studiospares and AudioAgency (Auralex distribs) are particularly kind and sympathetic with the fact that you really want to use your talents for recording, not major building work.

Much of Paul White's book conforms to building regs, but it's worth checking with your local office just in case there are any unusual local bye-laws. Listed buildings are big fun for instance, so make sure you check before starting any conversion work, maybe even before even buying.

As the permission was already given for the building several years ago, the work seems to be allowable under what is called permitted development, which means that work does not need planning permission, but must still conform to current building regs.

The main considerations are isolation; insulation; reflection modification; roof ventilation; and window ventilation.

C-W from left: French windows w keyboard in front. Worktop with; Mac G4 monitor, JV1080 & Akai S2000 on top, 19" rack wheelie module underneath (effects & outboard: Behringer Composer Pro, Modulizer & Virtualizer; SPL Vitalizer; GP16; Lexicon Alex; patch bay & Alesis Wedge). Central console w VS1680. Tannoy nearfields either side. Two consoles: one with Hi-Fi components; one with i/p units - MOTU 2408, MOTU Micro Express XT, Fastlane, Joe Meek VC3Q & Mk2. Samson Servo 170 underneath. Spirit Folio SX desk. Roland Handsonic. Other effects, drum modules, guitars etc strewn around the room. Two main doors, one to outside on lower right, one to live room on far right.

if you look carefully in the top picture (lower left) the unfinished rack trolley (the one in the bottom pic with all the lights) can still be seen. plans for this trolley will soon be posted.

The first thing to tackle has been preparation of the inner wall surfaces. Current regs call for the use of a vertical damp course if you don't already have one. The most basic, and simplest to apply is a bitumen proofer. The trade-slang is Blackjack, but may also be called Synthruproof. I got a 25L can from Wickes for about £30. One litre doesn't cover very much, so if you have any area at all to cover, it's worth getting the big drums.

This needs two coats, and you really need to suit up for the job. Mr Cudby, despite boiler suit, PVC gloves, scrotty clothes, & safety glasses, still managed to forget that scratching your nose whilst using this stuff really isn't a good idea.

Does anyone remember the death of Tasha Yar from Star Trek TNG????? Remember the black oily stuff that killed her??? There is a spooky sense of deja vu when you open the lid on this stuff. It is pure evil in a tin.

If you already have damp-course or it is an internal wall you can concern yourself mainly with isolation. The first step we too was to decouple the weakest wall (neighbour adjoining alcove) by lining the wall with neoprene pond liner. There is a material from Auralex called Sheetblok, but it is very expensive for big areas. Pond liner isn't cheap, but it can be used in greater quantity for the same price.

The VDC for the walls is now complete, and so work can start on the battoning and insulation of the walls. The construction is fairly simple, following an old design from the BBC.

There are two ways of achieving isolation - air and mass. Air usually involves lots of space and this is an issue here and. i suspect, with most project studios. We therefore have gone for mass, which will be provided by both RW3 rockwool and acoustic foam (both from Studiospares)

The battons are spaced at 600mm, and are constructed from 100mm x 50mm tannellised timber. Between the wall and the timber should ideally go a layer of neoprene rubber, to cut down on vibrational transmission. The whole lot is fixed to the wall with hammer fixings.

Next in is the primary insulation. Rockwool is still the most effective thermal insulator, but for sound insulation, it needs to be very high density. There is a solid version in board form called RW3. The added advantage is that it usually has a paper covering too, so the days of fibre-glass itchy martyrdom are very nearly over.

On top of this goes the acoustic foam which is a little expensive, but it really depends how much noise you need to keep in or out.

The whole construction is then sealed off with foil backed 12.5mm plasterboard. The foil backing is a new building regulation for fire prevention. Chipboard is not acceptable anymore as it is a fire hazard.

Ideally, two layers should be used, but you may be seriously losing room space by this point. The plasterboard is then finished off with special joining tape, to provide a suitable surface either for plaster skim or heavy lining paper.

Any edges should be sealed with silicone based (ie flexible) sealant - this ensures an air-seal. New research in the US has shown that sound has an unerring ability to get through even the smallest spaces in an unproportional way. Small gap does not always equal small transmission and so even the smallest gaps can ruin an otherwise good wall. Simple point, but if you want to be able to paint the sealant afterwards, make sure you check the tube, as not all allow over-painting, particularly those designed for tile sealing!

Once the isolation is complete - attention can be turned to attenuation and treatment of the room. Auralex provide a good online room assessment service. They can then provide 'kits' suited to the rough application, with an installation guide to give you a rough idea of where to put all the little 1'x1' tiles! They come in very funky colours and the tiles themselves are a long way from the old eggbox and photo-case packing foam designs.

We've opted for a Alpha DST Roominator kit which has 64 tiles plus four LENRD bass traps. We're going to make further bass traps ourselves, but the four main ones will be the LENRDs.

Auralex have some good online audio examples of what these kits can do for a room, and for a control room our size, they can make a significant difference.

Rough placements are above the engineer listening position, and roughly directly to either side of the listening position. The rear wall should be bass or bass/mid trapped.

There are several ways to do floors, but the one we've opted for is a semi-floating design. It's pretty much like making a wall, but on the floor.

The bare concrete is first dressed with the Tasha Yar killer bitumen again, and then a layer of standard rockwool is laid down. However, we've also gone the extra mile on this aspect and bought 2mm thick neoprene pond liner to glue down as well. This has a two-fold benefit. Firstly it will not wear as quickly as a 'paint', and secondly, it is a further vibrational dampner.

In the Doncaster refit, the the live room is on the first floor above the kitchen. It's a standard timber joist and floorboard construction and the sound transmission from the kitchen upwards was appalling and so that was our major area of work. So, we left the existing carpet down as a base, and set about floating a floor above it.

The floor level lighting will be done with robust low voltage halogen units, normally used for pond lighting (probably from Bradshaws - a specialist garden lighting company).

Click here for a pictoral guide to the construction of the floating floor in the new live room at Doncaster.

The studio will draw from a number of influences, both architectural and artistically. There are two big influences for the live room. One is in keeping with the tollbooth nominative, 'The Phantom Tollbooth' and one wall will feature images and text from the book very heavily.

The rest of the styling will draw from my other major passion in life, the Spanish architect Gaudi. Gaudi not only had a flair for the macro and engineering facets of design, but also for radical interior styling as well. His doors, windows, balconies, lighting, seating, all oozed a challenge to the established linearity of conventional design.

Gaudi's work always seems to provoke many different reactions in the span of viewers, but to me, his work has a very organic and evolving quality that draws from the very shapes of life itself. In his work, I see bones, plants, fungi and many other natural shapes and evocations.

The following designs are rough drawings for the live room. Note the doors, wall lights and window frames.

The wall-lights echo the balconies on Casa Battlo, (these may be ultimately built in porcelain by anna mcarthur) while the window frames are inspired by some of the internal doors in the building. The decor will again follow very Gaudi colours, though not the highly intricate mosaic work that he is also famed for. Big bold blues and purples on the walls will mix with a variety of lighting colours.

The second major influence is that of the Temple of Humankind at Damanhur in Italy. The Temple is an astounding mix of eclectic artwork, featuring many different chambers with artwork ranging from traditional painting and sculpture to: tiffany glass; trompe l'oeil; innovative lighting effects; complex ancient & sacred scripts; and fabrics & building materials etc.

I had the privilege of visiting Damanhur and the Temple shortly before we began most of the decoration work on the studio in Doncaster and so many of the Gaudi and Damanhur influences can be incorporated along with many of my own ideas.

Room	Date	Status
Control Room	1/3/2004	Control room operational though being refitted mid march (apx 1 week)
Live Rm 1	1/3/2004	Complete and project ready
Chill Out/Vocal Rm	1/3/2004	Still awaiting completion