Rebuilding My Studio on a Sloped Mezzanine: Advice and Suggestions Welcome

#1

Hello everyone,

I’m here today seeking valuable advice for building my studio. Before presenting my project, I’d like to give you a bit of context.
Six years ago, I began setting up the mezzanine in my grandmother’s garage to record and mix my music. Over time, this space has gradually expanded: I added a vocal booth, then a small living room. The design was based on intuitive principles, but it has evolved as my needs have changed.

The listening room has been acoustically treated and works quite well, but it is still very small (2.75 meters wide, 2.2 meters long, with a sloped ceiling ranging from 1.40 meters to 2.40 meters). The vocal booth measures 1.10 meters by 0.90 meters and sounds a bit “dull.” The living room fulfills its purpose, but the overall layout could definitely be optimized.
Improvements have been made gradually, but everything isn’t ideally spaced within the room.
Representation of the demolished studio in 3D :

________________________________________
Today, the mezzanine, which is 60 years old, shows worrying signs of weakness, preventing me from using it properly and hosting guests comfortably. That’s why I’ve decided to rebuild the mezzanine. And since I’m redoing everything, I’d like to rethink the entire studio design.

Dimensions of the current mezzanine:
• Length: 6 meters
• Width: 2.90 meters
• Sloped ceiling ranging between 1.40 meters and 2.40 meters, with the highest point at 2.70 meters from the back wall (wall with a window).
I’m attaching a 3D plan below to give you a clearer idea:

_______________________________________
Concept for the new studio:

My goal is to create a fully modular studio where I can handle both recording and mixing in the same room.
For recording, I’m considering using modular panels. This would free me from the constraints of the small vocal booth, which sounds pretty "boxy" and "dull," while also avoiding the issues in the main room, where the sound isn’t controlled and the ventilation noise disrupts recordings.
I’ll outline my design ideas for the studio here. Of course, I’m very open to your suggestions and corrections to improve my project.
________________________________________
Soundproofing and Acoustic Treatment:

• Soundproofing:
I plan to use BA13 soundproof drywall with 100mm rock wool insulation and a 2cm air gap.
Soundproofing is not a major priority since the neighborhood is quiet, and external noise is infrequent.

• Acoustic Treatment (to be adjusted after measuring the empty room):
Front Wall:
Option 1: 20 cm of acoustic fiberglass with fabric and corner bass traps.
Option 2: Integrated speaker in the soffit (I really like this idea, but it seems complicated to set up for now).
o Side Walls:
Install acoustic panels (60x120 cm) at first reflection points, with one or two panels on each side.
o Sloped Ceiling:
Acoustic panels (60x120 cm) at first reflection points, one or two panels as needed.
o Back Wall:
Install a Schröeder diffuser across the area above the couch.
________________________________________
I thank you in advance for your feedback, advice, and suggestions. This project is very important to me, and I would really like to optimize everything to create a high-quality space for creation and mixing.

This is my first post on a forum, and I’m writing via a translator, so I hope the translation is clear.

See you soon!

#2

what options do you have to change the shape of the "mezzanine"? for example, make it with larger more rectangular rooms and a sloped roof (trusses) above that. also, reinforce the flooring.

#3

Good evening, Gulfo,

To explain my project a bit more clearly: I’m currently in the final phase of demolishing the studio’s interior partition walls as well as the old mezzanine. I’ve attached two photos to show the current state of progress.

I have to work within the existing footprint: the mezzanine can only be anchored to the two load-bearing walls that run along the length of the space (6 meters apart).
This essentially rules out any possibility of widening the space or changing the overall volume.

The studio has a tiled roof on the outside, with insulation and wooden cladding on the inside. I didn’t include the roof in the SketchUp model to keep things simple — I’m still a beginner with the software and didn’t know how to partially hide it.

I had considered raising the roof, but that would involve a budget I don’t currently have, along with heavy administrative procedures.

Reconstruction phase
The materials were delivered today. The new mezzanine will be a self-supporting structure resting on 6-meter wall plates fixed to the load-bearing walls, with joists on metal hangers, topped with 18 mm OSB panels. The panels will be decoupled using resilient strips to limit structure-borne vibration transmission.

Design questions – I’d be grateful for your feedback

1. Passive treatment – Is it better to double the brick walls with parallel 13 mm drywall, or could a slight offset (non-parallel angle) along the length help reduce standing waves and flutter echo?

2. Room proportions – Should I slightly adjust the internal dimensions (L/W) to approach a more “ideal” modal ratio, or can the current raw shape be made to work effectively with proper acoustic treatment?

3. Soffit-mounted monitors – Would soffit-mounting significantly improve frequency response and stereo imaging, or is the added complexity not really worth it?

Thanks in advance for any advice or experience you’re willing to share!

#4

i'd add the additional drywall to increase the mass to some better balance between the different wall types. if you don't have high isolation needs, then i'd also let some of the "leakage" areas like roof and windows continue allow LF to exit.

it's very small space - so i would leverage acoustic treatments which have hard surfaces and as much absorption as possible to tame the space. the exception might be room length, but more reasonably, i would make it deeper trapping.

yes, a proper speaker soffit will make that tiny room have a much better response. i would put the "front" of the room towards the windows so even though the soffits will cover them, they can still leak LF out unless you need more isolation - in which case you'll block those up.

HVAC - more importantly - fresh air?

share the SU model?

#5

Since I don't need heavy sound isolation, I'm going to follow your advice and intentionally leave a few leakage points.

When you mention hard surfaces, what exactly do you mean? Are the planned soundproof partitions without treatment sufficient, or are you referring to adding reflective surfaces like wooden panels or diffusers?

For absorption, I’ve planned (as shown in the SketchUp file I’m attaching

stud.skp: (5.61 MiB) Downloaded 10 times

stud.skp: (5.61 MiB) Downloaded 10 times

) about 50 cm of insulation thickness in the center of the front wall. This thickness will increase around the bass traps / speaker wall area.

I also tried to design a soffit for the speakers, but I’m not sure it makes much sense. I attempted to follow Stuart’s guide, but I feel like the translation is throwing me off in some parts.

As for HVAC, I’m planning on manual air renewal by simply opening the windows since they’re on opposite sides. Heating/cooling will be handled by a wall-mounted AC unit, which can also help with forced air circulation if needed.

#6

maybe some ideas like this? we're "shortening" the length of the room so the ratio is about as good as it's going to get - within the EBU range, and in the gray parts of the Trevor Cox room optimization scale. this is not complete - i did not frame the soffit nor add an additional cloud on the far slope ceiling, nor anything in the "bass trap space" behind the false wall.

#7

Thank you, Glenn. Your design has filled me with excitement!
I love the concept and the aesthetics — you did an incredible job. Thank you!

To better understand your design intentions, I have a few questions:

The rear partition that looks like a closet (which I find super practical for storing mics, cables, headphones, etc.) — will it remain open on the sides to allow passage?

Does the front wall window absolutely need to be sealed? It’s quite useful for creating airflow.
If it’s absolutely necessary, of course I’ll block it off.

My monitors are Focal Alpha 50s — can they be used in a soffit mount?

Will the whole room still be soundproofed with insulated drywall before applying the acoustic treatment you designed?

I’m starting the structural work tomorrow and will share progress as I go.

I’m moving forward with both the design and construction in parallel, so this discussion might soon no longer belong in the current thread.

Thanks again for your help!

#8

Yes the focals can be soffit mounted. But you might be better if with a 7 or 8 inch version.
The back "wall" is really an absorber so I'd use the open space behind it for storage

#9

Thanks Gulfo,

Could you tell me what benefits larger monitors would bring?

And yes, optimizing storage is a great idea — I’ll definitely plan for that alongside the acoustic work. It’s a major challenge :lol:

I’m currently doing all the renovation work after my day job, so I haven’t had much time to focus on designing the front wall yet.
Are there any key principles or essential parameters I should take into account for its design?

#10

the slightly larger speaker will give you a smoother LF response although if you have a subwoofer, you could tune it to get a good response. i share some baffle framing ideas.

#11

here's the soffit framing. basic 2x4. plywood boxes for the speaker (use sorbathane or sylomer pads as needed to decouple), a bezel on the baffle plate to faciliate placing the speaker. use ripped lumber - fastened and glued to join the frame sections, and a pair of smaller frame to attach to the window side wall. replace the window with equiv material as the existing wall - seal it.

Soundman2020 - Studio Design Forum