Walls! (Addendum)

Well, I was only joking about the masons being finished by lunch. But not by much, apparently. I slid by the site after lunch and here's how far up the Studio 1 wall had grown. Jerry lends a hand in filling the walls with sand.


Becky, being an avid potter, decided to help herself to some free sawdust for the next barrel firing. (For more on Becky's pottery endeavors, click the link to the right.)


On the way home, I stopped by for another look. Those guys don't waste any time!



Then, against my better judgement, I climbed the scaffolding to get this shot of how the sand fills the walls.


I like being in the space at the end of the day when all the workers have gone. It's fun to visualize the finished studio and imagine all the great music and sound that's soon to be created there.

Until next time.

Walls!

(7th in a series. If you're here for the first time, I invite you start from the beginning.)

I don't know if I mentioned it, but the site of our new studio just happens to be right off my usual route to work. As a result, the construction crew is used to seeing my smiling mug about every morning. This morning, my mug was smiling more than usual. Walls are finally going up!


As you can see, there's a good-sized crew of masons swarming about. And boy, are they fast! The work you see in these shots took them only a little more than an hour. At this rate, they should be done by - hmm - lunch?


Jerry, our Supervisor, introduced me to the head guy. Extremely nice fellow. When he heard my last name, he asked, "Are you related to Carl Story?" I said, "If you mean the country singer, yes - we're distant cousins." I'm not sure if he was impressed by that, but I got the sense that he thought it was pretty cool. (I asked because I also have a brother named Carl. He's definitely not a country singer.)


As I mentioned in a previous post, all the block walls will be filled with sand to give them mass. Remember, thanks to the laws of physics, only two things impede sound transmission...mass and air. With two 8 inch sand-filled block walls, 8 inches of airspace, and concrete slab isolation joints between every control room and studio, we don't expect sound penetration to be a problem. Our first session with a pounding rock drummer will tell the tale. Or...I just remembered the time our Michael McGinnis rented a twin Marshall stack for a screaming guitar sound. I think they heard it in Atlanta. Maybe that would be a better soundproofing test.


While the walls are going up, ductwork for the HVAC system continues to go out.


And now, for those who love the geeky details, here are a couple of architectural cross sections to give you a better look at how it all works. Notice how studio floor slabs are at a slightly lower elevation. We're floating the hardwood floors in those rooms, and this will allow the finished studio floors to end up flush with the rest.



Can't wait for lunch to go see how it all turned out.

Okay...maybe not.

Until next time.

Things are looking up...

(Sixth in a series. If you're here for the first time and want to follow progress from the beginning, scroll on down to the first post.)

Well, after much time and effort spent looking down at concrete slabs, it's nice to finally start looking up. Above the ceiling, that is.

It's the stuff you don't see that will keep visitors comfortable...and safe. Namely, the HVAC system and the fire sprinkler system. As you'll see from this photo, the sprinkler system was installed with a standard office in mind.


Sprinkler pipes are at a height of ten feet, a problem considering that the walls for Studio One will be fifteen and a half feet high. So we had to raise them pipes higher. Here's a closer look. You'll see a round patched spot where the original penetration was, with a sprinkler pipe coming through its new penetration around 8 feet higher.


Here's a long shot with the sprinkler pipes at their new height. Room for those spacious ceilings!


And here's the first air handler set in place for the HVAC system. We'll have three separate systems when all is said and done. One for the offices and common areas, one for the control rooms and another for the studios. This will allow us to tailor the heating and cooling requirements for each unique environment, as well as managing acoustic and noise properties.


This longer shot gives you an idea of the generous ceiling height we have to work with. It's 18 feet to the bottom of the large girder, and 22 feet to the roof deck. No crawling around on the belly to install and maintain that stuff!


Next week, walls start going up. Meanwhile I'm enjoying watching the studio's innards begin to take shape. It ain't sexy. It ain't pretty. But there ain't no studio without 'em.

Until next time...

A little slab'll do ya'...

(Fifth in a series. If you want to get the story from the beginning, start with post number one. If you'd like to put the following photos into perspective, there's an architectural floorplan in my August 23rd entry, "Almost Ready to Build".)

Okay, this is the last post about slabs...I promise. But I've been fascinated watching the foundations of our new studio get built. Hey, concrete is interesting stuff! What would modern architecture be without it?

Here's the freshly poured slab for Control Room B, where Mike McGinnis will hold forth.


And here's where yours truly will slave over a hot keyboard all day.


Control Room A is ready to be poured. This will be Anthony Fedele's new digs. The forms for Studio 2 (just behind) are also ready.


From this perspective, you're looking from Control Room C, across the nearly prepped Studio 1, then to Control Room B.


Don't let the dimensions fool you. The space between - where Studio 1 will be - is 28 x 22 feet.

And finally, the diminutive Studio 3, a one-person vocal booth. Again, while it looks like a closet from this perspective, the interior dimension will be a reasonably comfortable 6' 6" x 8' 0".


It's Tuesday, September 30th, and all slab work is scheduled to be completed by the end of the week. Next week, the sprinkler system will be raised into the beams to make room for those wonderfully high studio ceilings. All the HVAC air handlers and hard duct work will also be installed next week. Apparently it's much easier to do this stuff before there are walls in the way. (I'm learning all this stuff from people MUCH smarter about it than me!)

And speaking of people smarter than me...


Beck says, "Slab-tabulous!"

Until next time...

One slab at a time...

(Fourth in a series. If you're here for the first time, you might like to go to the first post to get the story from the beginning.)

In my previous post, I described the efforts we're making to "decouple" the concrete slabs of each of the Control Rooms and Studios, in order to prevent sound transmission from below. We hit our first snag this week. When we raked back the gravel for slab preparation, we discovered a nasty surprise...a 2 foot deep column footer radiating 7 feet from the center. Pouring a slab over that footer would couple it with any other slab making contact with it, including the space next door.


But our fearless construction supervisor, Jerry Hyde, came to the rescue. He rightly figured that placing a layer of foam between the slab and the footer would decouple the two, and life would be good again. Here's a control room ready for the pour.


Notice the black box in the center of the room. This is a floor box which will set under the producer's desk. Under a flip-up lid will be power for your laptop, connectors for talkback microphones, a telephone desk set and an ethernet connection for internet access in case your computer doesn't have Wi-Fi. Client convenience is what our new studio is all about! Here's another shot of the slab prep.


Since I mentioned Jerry Hyde, I have to get a plug in for our General Contractor, Denver Construction Company. One of the reasons they got the gig is that from our first meeting with DCC's Tracy Reitzel, they just "got it." Building a studio is not like building a house. In fact, compared to standard construction, many aspects can feel weird - or just plain wrong! We've had problems in the past with workers trying to "fix" the design, or "doing it the RIGHT way" instead of the way it's supposed to be. Not Tracy and Jerry. They not only understood but embraced the unique challenges, and have already come up with creative solutions of their own. As I told Jerry the other day, I only have three words..."You Da' Man!". Take a bow, Jerry. (I'll try to get a pic of Tracy, architect Brian Gaddis and studio designer David Rochester as soon as I can.)


All the slabs should be in place by the middle of next week (around October 1st) and it will be exciting to watch the walls start going up. As I've said often, we've been in our current location for 18 years and I expect we'll be in our new studio for another 18...or more, if I live that long.

As usual, click any of the above photos for a larger view.

'Til next time!

It's Begun!

(Third in a series. If you're here for the first time and would like the whole story, you might want to start with the first post.)

At long last, real work has started! The demising wall has been completed.



(Becky is checking out the light through what will be her office window.)

Plumbing has been roughed in prior to pouring of the slabs.


And formwork is underway.


Slab pouring begins next week. A note of interest for fellow studio and building geeks; each studio and control room will rest on its own slab. ("Monolithic slab" is the term I've heard used by our experts. Sounds impressive, doesn't it?)

From the beginning of the design phase, our priority has been to achieve superb acoustics and the best sound isolation possible - within the constraints of the space and our budget. Since sound can transmit through concrete (especially low frequencies) the slab for every room will be isolated from that of the adjoining space. Slab thickness is doubled at the edges to support the weight of the sand-filled cinder block walls which will form the basic structure for each studio and control room. Slabs are poured first for the hallways and common areas, with the rest to follow. And since floors in all studios will be floated to isolate microphones from ground vibrations, those slabs will be poured at a lower elevation so that all floors in the facility are flush.

So far, so good. Becky seems pleased.


That's an update on the technical side of progress. Now let's turn to the aesthetic aspect. I'd like to introduce you to the latest member of the new studio team - Bobbie Cox. When we started looking ahead to what the finished studio would look - and more importantly, FEEL like, I quickly realized that my interior design sensibility is sorely lacking. That's where Bobbie comes in. She's a terrific interior designer, and she's helping us make sure the new space is as beautiful as it is functional. She proves once more...if you want it done right - hire professionals! If you'd like to learn more about Bobbie and her company, Custom Dragonfly, here's the link:

www.customdragonfly.com

Until next time!

Almost ready to build!

Well, you know what they say about schedules...they're always subject to change.

I won't burden you with the details, but now - three months after our scheduled start date - we're almost ready to start construction. Actually, WE'RE not starting construction. The person who owns the property at our new location is.

Confused?  I suppose at this point I should burden you with at least one or two details.  

The original plan was simple.  Sell our building.  Buy new property. Build new studio.

Then we discovered the 1031 Tax Deferred Exchange.  If you're not familiar with this somewhat arcane section of the IRS Tax Code, essentially you can defer capital gains taxes on real estate appreciation by exchanging for property of equal or greater value. It's complicated, and you have to meticulously toe the line on the rules. But after careful consultation with our accountant and attorney, we entered into an agreement with the buyer of our building to swap our current property for our new one.  He is the owner at our new location and will build the studio to our specifications.  Once construction is complete, we'll exchange properties, move into our new digs, and resume business as usual. Pretty cool, huh?

It's at times like this that I REALLY appreciate our excellent accountant and attorney.  Patti Belcourt and Jerry Jernigan - take a bow.

At this point I have to acknowledge, most folks aren't going to be that interested in the tiny particulars of our upcoming move.  You have your own business to attend to, and it's undeniably a bigger deal for us than it's going to be for anyone else.  While we're confident you'll enjoy the new studio and appreciate its amenities and capabilities, I'm reminded of the old Southern saying, "I just want the biscuit - not the recipe."

However, on the off chance that there other other geeks like myself who actually want the recipe, I'll keep posting periodically.  To whet your appetite, here are some site photos and an architectural floor plan.  Click images to enlarge.

More to come!