John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

I would suggest consulting an engineer, due to Mexico Cities earthquake prone reputation, and the geological makeup of the area(only my opinion due to TV ). But building a heavy structure such as a studio on top of steel pilings would seem to place extreme shear forces on connections, even with slight ground movement , and due to point loads on these pilings or columns, correct footings should also be engineered(please ignor this if already done). Construction costs seems like it would be incredibly expensive for such a small square meter space though:shock: Is space at that high of a premium there. Why over a water tank?
fitZ

The more I look at your illustration, I begin to wonder about some things.
Like the red "holders" at the roof line:? What are "holders"? Just curious, but you show a line labled "16mm board"(plasterboard? ) as a roof, with an airgap below it. What supports the
16mm board across this span? And what and how are you sealing drywall as a roof? And the exterior walls at the staircase, what exactly are these made of? Some things do not seem clear, and for any one to comment correctly on the makeup of your structure as it relates to isolation and or acoustics, they need to know what you are REALLY planning. Illustrations are fine, IF they truely indicate your intent, but this leaves me wondering. There are other things too. Like the floor? You show wood, but no dimensions to give an idea of thickness, as structural depth of members seem very light in your illustration. This affects the isolation, room height, live loads etc. I have found, that simply drawing things like this, without regard for TRUE dimensions of elements, let alone the REAL nominal dimensions, leaves a lot to be desired down the road, as space gets eaten by not only structural elements, but not drawing to scale in the first place. This is NOT a critique of your illustration. Just a few comments so you can obtain the best advice which only can be given IF the information provided is relatively correct, and thorough.
And last, I don't know about Mexico's building codes, and please don't take this as condensending, but considering all the damage that happened in the last earthquake due to what was REPORTED as disregard for common sense building codes, corrupt inspection personell, and downright pathetic earthquake resistant construction design and techniques, but you couldn't build something like that here, WITHOUT proper engineering, permits, compliance inspections and an occupancy load permit. Thats because, structures such as this, built incorrectly, with no permits, can KILL PEOPLE plain and simple. So take this with a grain of salt. I only suggest the engineering and permit stuff so people don't get hurt. That is NOT to say you haven't already taken this into consideration. If so, please accept my apology.
fitZ

Ok, you're right regarding the exact specifications on the drawing presented, actually I'm designing the working space (note I said working space, not as merely studio) based on the SAE Institute information (see home page of John's site), as long as space gap, (air sealing, plasterboard, type of woods, etc.), the main structure is a steel frame
supported by steel pilots, the size, gross, the engineer working with us has the info. Regarding your concern about earhtquakes, you're right about Mexico, but not all the sites are the same. The studio will be built inside a warehouse at my home, and the area where the house is built has extremely hard ground called "tepetate", which is like granite compresed rocks, very different than in the basement of the city, where once was a lake, and the ground is like jello, (that's where all the damage was in the 85 quake). Actually, we felt very little that quake,
even it was an 8.3 in the scale. Next week I'll post more specific info on thikness, space gaps, the drawing first presented was for general idea in order to have some retro, as with you, and to learn prior to do any mistakes. Ah! the holders are steel holders attached to both concrete sides to hold the outside roof (remember it will be built inside a warehouse) which, as the outside walls, is made of a mixture of plasterboard and cement, and is covered with a material called "ecoseal"
which makes them waterproof and in some degree, sound proof. Then in the inside, you start placing sealed air space, 32mm. plasterboard, 5cm. mineral wool, fabric, slat resonators. bass traps in the corners, high freq. difusers in the walls. 3 gap of ceilings with hermholtz resonators (hangers), (have the idea, but i'll need to draw the details).