I'm having a house and a home studio built in Japan, and the construction is supposed to start in about 2 months.
The studio is going to be a "One Room Studio" and will be used to record and mix as well as playing the drums. I am one of the quieter drummers, but I can't tell you exactly how loud I am since I'm living in a condo right now and there's no way for me to test it.
The good news is that the architect knows all about the local building code, and all the plans will go through a structural engineer for approval. The bad news is that they of course have no experience building a studio.
And my budget, it's really hard to say just because I'm having the house and the studio built together, but I'd say may be about US $100,000 for the studio part so far and that's already spent (not literally, but for the foundation, lumber, drywall, labor, etc.) I'll probably be spending more on pre-made isolation doors, and a silencer system for the ventilation, etc. not to mention acoustic treatment later (I'll be doing the acoustic treatment myself).
As you can see above, fortunately, for the most part I don't have too many neighbors but the house with the blue roof is pretty close from where the studio is going to be (only a few of meters away).
The land, although it's not really all that big, it's actually 2 lots, and after the house and the studio is built I'm planning on selling a portion of it to get some money back as shown in the picture. If I do sell that part, I might end up with a neighbor on that side as well.
You can see the basic layout of the house and where the studio storage (for extra equipment, etc.) and the studio is going to be. The image doesn't show it, but there will be double door. Oh, and the foundation will be separated with expansion joint between where the house and the studio storage meet. I guess, this is so that if one of the buildings fall apart, it doesn't take down the other one with it.
In Japan, there's a big hollow space above the foundation/below the house floor to keep things ventilated so to keep moisture out. And that's how the house side foundation will be, but obviously that won't be good for the studio to have such a chamber so it will be packed with compacted earth and capped with a concrete slab above it. This is also going to keep the floor level of the house and the studio the same.
This is how the studio foundation will be built (in order - from left to right). I am considering having the the top part isolated from the rest of the foundation with expansion joint (I know, I'm not supposed to say that I want a floating floor, etc. but I do play the drums and a couple of neighbors are close). I'm waiting to hear from the structural engineer if it's doable. If not, it will be a big concrete box with compacted dirt inside.
Here's an image for how I'm planning the wall structure. From the inside: 3 layers of 15mm drywall, a vapor barrier, 33cm air gap (including the framing for the inner and outer leaf), 1 layer of 9mm structural plywood, 3 layers of gypsum sheathing, water proof sheet, furring strip to mount the siding, and finally the external siding.
As you can see, the studs for the inner and outer leaf are staggered, and each layer of drywall will be staggered to keep the seams from overlapping. The seems will be taped and mudded. I'm planning on having the edges of each layer stuffed with backer rod and caulked (with colored caulk as Stuart suggested somewhere).
The drywall sizes here are a bit weird in Japan. They are either 910mm x 1820mm (based on an old Japanese measuring system) or 1000mm x 2000mm. The plan right now is to go with the latter which means that the stud spacing is going to be 50cm on center. Based on this, I'm not sure how the corners of the drywall and backer rod should fit together exactly. Any advise will be appreciated
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
The inner dimension of the room I'm thinking of right now is H:336cm, W:506cm, and L:726cm.
Using https://www.acoustic.ua/forms/rr.en.html it seems to be ok with Bolt, EBU/ITU, IEC, and Cox.
I did also punch in the figures above into a couple of other room mode calculators that were suggested here: https://amcoustics.com/tools/amroc and http://www.bobgolds.com/Mode/RoomModes.htm
It seems ok to me but then again, I'm a total amateur.
I've read Myth: Modes and room ratios: Myth: Modes and room ratios: "I have too many modes! I need a better ratio to get rid of them" https://www.digistar.cl/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=557 and I know I'm not supposed to go too crazy about this, but I have a rare opportunity to have a room built from scratch so I want make the best of it and not screw up.
I could make the width of the room up to around 520cm, and the length up to about 760cm, but the height, because I'll be putting up the acoustic treatment myself later (and I'm a short guy in my late 50's) I wouldn't want it much higher since it will be hard to work on. But any suggestions, recommendations will be greatly appreciated regarding the dimension. I'm very nervous about making the final decision but I have to very soon.
For now, if possible, I would like any advice/opinion from those of you who are experienced about the room dimension, wall structure (and the expansion joint for the foundation, or anything that I mentioned).
I'll be writing/asking about the ceiling/roof design (thinking of the inside out design), ventilation, doors some time soon. I hope I didn't miss anything.
Thank you so much in advance!
Keith