ᐅ Basement for a Small Recording Studio, or an Extension Instead?
Created on: 13 Mar 2015 10:47
W
Willem81
Hello everyone!
My family and I plan to build a house in the near future. We have already purchased the plot, found an architect, and many components are already quite clear to us. We will build using solid wood construction. Our requirements are not very complex: besides an open ground floor with kitchen, living room, utility room, shower bathroom, and workspace, there will be a master bedroom and two children's rooms upstairs. So far, so simple.
The more complicated issue is this: I am a musician and would like to integrate my small recording studio into the house. I work there alone, so it is not a studio with through traffic. The room will also be used for making music and rehearsals. It should be about 30sqm (320sq ft) in size. We had long thought about a separate acoustically isolated annex, but our architect suggested that a basement might be more sensible. We actually wanted to avoid a basement for cost reasons. But the architect is right: an annex naturally incurs different costs than a basement.
In addition, the soil in the top 2 meters (6.5 feet) is rich in humus, so we would have to remove 2 meters (6.5 feet) of soil anyway and replace it with sand if we did not build a basement. So that makes sense.
The soil expert also recommends a water-tight concrete structure ("white tank"). The footprint will be approximately 9x9 meters (30x30 feet), so the basement will be around 80sqm (860sq ft). As a living basement, it will also need insulation. I would like the studio to have daylight, so the idea is to build a high basement and take advantage of the slightly sloped site, grading the southern side so that the basement is at ground level on that side.
Now my question to you: does this make sense cost-wise? Or can you imagine a cheaper solution for this room? Considering all these points (grading, insulation, water-tight structure, high basement, etc.), could an annex actually be more cost-effective? Integrating the room into the upper or ground floor is difficult space-wise because the building footprint is hard to extend due to a fairly narrow building envelope (an annex would be possible, as the plot is triangular and a smaller structure could fit beside the house). The house can only be built as 1.5 stories, so using the attic is not an option. Do you have experience with suppliers of prefabricated basements?
I would appreciate your opinions!
Best regards,
Willem
My family and I plan to build a house in the near future. We have already purchased the plot, found an architect, and many components are already quite clear to us. We will build using solid wood construction. Our requirements are not very complex: besides an open ground floor with kitchen, living room, utility room, shower bathroom, and workspace, there will be a master bedroom and two children's rooms upstairs. So far, so simple.
The more complicated issue is this: I am a musician and would like to integrate my small recording studio into the house. I work there alone, so it is not a studio with through traffic. The room will also be used for making music and rehearsals. It should be about 30sqm (320sq ft) in size. We had long thought about a separate acoustically isolated annex, but our architect suggested that a basement might be more sensible. We actually wanted to avoid a basement for cost reasons. But the architect is right: an annex naturally incurs different costs than a basement.
In addition, the soil in the top 2 meters (6.5 feet) is rich in humus, so we would have to remove 2 meters (6.5 feet) of soil anyway and replace it with sand if we did not build a basement. So that makes sense.
The soil expert also recommends a water-tight concrete structure ("white tank"). The footprint will be approximately 9x9 meters (30x30 feet), so the basement will be around 80sqm (860sq ft). As a living basement, it will also need insulation. I would like the studio to have daylight, so the idea is to build a high basement and take advantage of the slightly sloped site, grading the southern side so that the basement is at ground level on that side.
Now my question to you: does this make sense cost-wise? Or can you imagine a cheaper solution for this room? Considering all these points (grading, insulation, water-tight structure, high basement, etc.), could an annex actually be more cost-effective? Integrating the room into the upper or ground floor is difficult space-wise because the building footprint is hard to extend due to a fairly narrow building envelope (an annex would be possible, as the plot is triangular and a smaller structure could fit beside the house). The house can only be built as 1.5 stories, so using the attic is not an option. Do you have experience with suppliers of prefabricated basements?
I would appreciate your opinions!
Best regards,
Willem
B
Bieber081516 Mar 2015 10:52Bauexperte schrieb:
Building a single-story extension is always more cost-effective than spending a lot of money on a basement.That’s assuming you leave out the (calculated) cost of the land, right?B
Bauexperte16 Mar 2015 11:15Bieber0815 schrieb:
If you exclude the (calculated) costs for the plot of land, right? Yes.
Regards, Bauexperte
Willem81 schrieb:
...that’s a good point. Although – if there is an extension, it would also include a utility room and storage room, so that would be covered as well.Then the utility room or storage room could also serve as a kind of buffer zone?!
The utility room could also fit a second fridge for the cola and beers.
ypg schrieb:
So the utility room or storage room could also serve as a sort of buffer zone?! If the original poster is considering a room-within-a-room concept, then having a washing machine that vibrates strongly in the anteroom might not be the ideal solution.
The question is how relevant structure-borne noise in the basement really is. Perhaps it is sufficient to place the studio along an exterior wall and build the interior walls as load-bearing walls (so the ceiling will vibrate less) using somewhat thicker sand-lime bricks, and maybe only add an intermediate ceiling (decoupled from the concrete ceiling).
Willem81 schrieb:
He said that at least under the building body the topsoil would have to be removed. In that sense, a basement might make sense, since the ground will have to be excavated anyway and otherwise would have to be filled with sand. It’s not just a matter of excavation and backfilling, but also the required depth of the foundation. A slab foundation is inexpensive, but a deep foundation is almost like a half underground shell.
ypg schrieb:
So the utility room or storage room could also serve as a sort of airlock?!
The utility room could also fit a second fridge for cola and beers ...not a bad idea at all! maximax schrieb:
If the OP is thinking about a room-within-a-room, then having a spinning washing machine in the anteroom might not be the best solution.That’s true, of course. On the other hand, it’s not a continuously used studio, so laundry times could be coordinated. Another idea would be to get through the utility room into a sound-lock airlock via a small corridor, so you would basically have a double airlock. maximax schrieb:
The question is how relevant structure-borne noise in the basement really is. Maybe it’s enough to place the studio against an exterior wall and use load-bearing interior walls (so the ceiling vibrates less) made of somewhat thicker calcium silicate blocks, and perhaps add a suspended ceiling that’s decoupled from the concrete slab....that’s an idea! Basically, the important thing is to keep sound from leaking out too much, especially drums can get pretty loud. Within the house it’s no problem, we’re all pretty tolerant. But of course, I don’t want to have trouble with the neighbors right after moving in. maximax schrieb:
It’s not just a matter of excavation and backfilling, but also the required depth of the foundation. A slab foundation is cheap, but a deep foundation is almost like a shell basement on its own....I understand. According to the building inspector and the neighbors, a deep foundation is not required; the neighbor’s was just under 1 meter (about 3 feet). We’ll see what the structural engineer says... The architect has really taken a liking to the basement solution. We have a relatively small building plot so he has to work with a small footprint – but at the same time, building in one and a half stories is mandatory. He finds the basement idea appealing because, with a living basement and some grading of the plot, you gain a bit more space down below. Besides the studio, the basement would also include the building services, possibly a utility room, and storage room. Of course, that could also be realized with an extension. He knows our budget (and the buffer up to the absolute maximum limit) and will see in which direction this can go. He will start drawing and calculating now. We are already planning with a relatively tight budget, which he also sees as a fun challenge. This space is not the highest priority, even though it partly contributes to my income – I have done previous jobs in a tiny home office and a poorly sounding practice bunker, and it worked out fine. Basement or not – we’ll find a way!
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