Greetings and a Question or two (or three)

#31

Thanks very much indeed. That was my thought exactly.

All the best,

Paul

#32

Greetings all,

So, it seems that we are not going to be able to have two separate buildings (pesky local codes) for the art studio and music studio (my space will be a bit smaller, but not overly so). The new single building will be 24'x30'. I have almost settled on a design which makes the best use of the available space.

More on this soon.

All the best,

Paul

#33

So, it seems that we are not going to be able to have two separate buildings (pesky local codes)

That's frustrating!

The new single building will be 24'x30'.

720 square feet is a pretty decent size building. How much of that will be available for your studio?

I have almost settled on a design which makes the best use of the available space.

I'm looking forward to seeing that...

- Stuart -

#34

Greetings Stuart,

Here is the current design. The art studio is the back space with the wall facing the woods. Dimensions for my space (inner leaf) from the left:
Left wall 19'
Wall facing back of the house 18'
Common wall with art studio 22'
Right wall 12'

Complete exterior dimensions for music studio: 21'x24'

Questions (as long as I have your attention): With the entryway as shown, do I need a double-door system into the studio, or will the entryway provide enough isolation? And related, if I can eliminate that extra door, can the exterior door simply be a solid core steel door?

As always, thanks very much indeed.

All the best,

Paul

#35

Paul, hopefully you can move the door away from the corner. I have found that the best position for a door in on a side wall, behind the listening position and forward of the rear corners where traps or a rear wall trap will be.

#36

Greetings Starlight,

Yes, I was hoping to not have the door in the corner, but was try to maximize available space.

That entry area will also be where the electric comes into the building (I think), and I wanted to have a space where it was easy to service, not to mention a spot outside the studio to deposit wet (or snowy) coats, etc. It seemed that putting the entryway in the middle of the driveway-side wall would actually deprive the studio of usable space. But since I am at least a month away from the concrete, I'll take any and all ideas. Unless I can't afford it (financially), I never turn down sensible advice.

For clarification, there will be an enclosed screen porch between the house and the studio building, and moving equipment through it would be a pain (porch screen doors are usually on the narrow side; the doors in my drawing are 36").

Now if someone would only invent a transporter, we wouldn't even need to bother with conversations like these.

All the best,

Paul

#37

I very much agree with Starlight: try to figure out a way to move the door out of the corner. It will help in several ways.

About your actual question here:

Questions (as long as I have your attention): With the entryway as shown, do I need a double-door system into the studio, or will the entryway provide enough isolation?

I would still go with the double-door into the studio.

And related, if I can eliminate that extra door, can the exterior door simply be a solid core steel door?

It sure can be a solid-core steel door, regardless of how you do the actual studio door. That would be good, in all cases.

That entry area will also be where the electric comes into the building (I think), and I wanted to have a space where it was easy to service, not to mention a spot outside the studio to deposit wet (or snowy) coats, etc.

OK, so you need a lobby / utility room at some location... might you also need storage? For things like instrument cases, road cases, mic stands, cables, and all the usual stuff that piles up in studios? Might you also need a bathroom there, so musicians don't need to use your house bathroom? Ditto for a small kitchenette, to make coffee, warm up a pizza, and keep a few drinks cool? If you need all/some of that then I'd suggest taking a slice of that side of the building and putting all of that together in one place, while still keeping the studio symmetrical, and keeping the door out of the corner. I think it should be possible to do that.

- Stuart -

#38

Greetings Stuart,

Thanks, as always, for your input. I had come up with a design with a bathroom. However, adding plumbing/kitchen to a second structure on a property would would make the structure a residence. If we lived in a place with lower property taxes, I wouldn't have a problem with that, but we are in the first ring of suburbs outside the Philadelphia city limits, and the property taxes are VERY high (funds great schools), and a second residence (which might not even be permitted due to zoning laws) would increase the taxes significantly.

I did have two other designs that incorporated the "slice" you mentioned (and allowed for a centered door). The trade off with both would be the nearly square studio room. I cannot change the position of the art studio (at the back, facing the woods). The only other design I had that eliminated the square room made the studio space much smaller (extending the wall from the entryway all the way across to the left), and I wouldn't get the benefit of putting a bathroom in that larger slice (which I had planned after our last discussion on the subject).

Any further thoughts you have on this would be greatly appreciated!

Also, in my construction thread you mentioned

there's a crazy idea that you might be interested in...

and that I should remind you to elaborate.

Thanks again.

All the best,

Paul

#39

Greetings all,

I have redesigned the building layout, as my wife was so kind as to have a smaller view into the woods for her art studio. By doing so, her studio actually is bigger.

This layout moves the door to the middle, provides storage, a good spot for a fridge, and plenty of room for electrical/HVAC access. I may take a bit of that space for a small office.

Thanks again for your input.

All the best,

Paul

#40

SoWhat wrote:Source of the postThis layout moves the door to the middle, provides storage, a good spot for a fridge, and plenty of room for electrical/HVAC access. I may take a bit of that space for a small office.

Paul, you got me thinking of ideas for door locations to maximise your use of the area. I throw these out to help you check that you have thought of as many possibilities as possible before you commit to something that may turn out later to be less than ideal.

I started by thinking that the space at area E could be ideal for studio gear storage, something like I had in my last place:

That would require moving the outside door to B or C or wherever is best along that wall, either opening out or in, as will suit you best.

It would make studio access easier if the double doors at A opened the opposite way. I would be tempted to leave the inner door hung as you have in your drawing and only switch the outer door as that would allow longer items to be taken into the studio without having to open the inner door quite so fully, which may be difficult if the rear wall traps restrict how far you can open that door. Here is that setup in my previous studio:

Maybe in the winter you wife would be grateful for the corridor to act as a porch rather than have her door open straight to the outside world; I don't know but it crossed my mind. If so, door D would be instead of her current door. And, of course, Door D could be anywhere on the wall it is, as it suits you.

I hope these ideas give you something helpful to think about. Maybe you have already done this.

#41

Hi Paul,

That last layout looks really good! Which are the dimensions for your space now?

And I also agree with Starlight about doors and space optimization.

Best regards,

Eric

#42

Greetings Starlight,

Thanks for your input, it is appreciated very much indeed. Exterior door location for the music studio is due to the screen porch (see my Post #36). I shifted the exterior door to its current position because that was still outside the porch area. If the porch wasn't going to be there, I would have implemented a plan very much like the one you've offered up (excellent!). Also, I wanted the entryway as close to the driveway as possible.

Yes, was going to use the corridor and part of the squarish space near door "D" for storage and mechanical (HVAC/electric) access. The rest of the square space will have a small fridge, microwave, etc. The door "D" is actually in my rough draft, but wasn't added for the picture I uploaded.

As to:

It would make studio access easier if the double doors at A opened the opposite way.

I hadn't even considered the rear wall trapping in the door opening equation! Thanks. Funny thing is, I allowed for 16 sq ft on each side of the door for corner traps, so I don't know how the rear wall trapping/door opening escaped my notice.

Once again, you have my thanks. It's so good to have multiple sets of eyes on this!

All the best,

Paul

#43

Greetings Eric,

That last layout looks really good!

Thanks! Please check my reply (Post #42) to Starlight for more details about my use-of-space decisions in my plan.

Which are the dimensions for your space now?

The inner leaf dimensions are 13'x24'. Still not bad after having to move the whole art/music studios project into one building!

All the best,

Paul

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