Revising the Designs

An architect, electrician, and a plumber walk in to a bar... No they didn't, actually they came down to the unit to consult our plans for the new recording studio. The first obstacles are afoot and there are some pretty radical changes needed to tackle them.

Firstly the architect discovered that the rainwater pipes that run through our unit feed a well that is just underneath our floor, covered only with a wooden lid. Obviously our biggest concern is flooding, we don't want to spend loads of money on a purpose built recording space for it to be destroyed by water. The pipes can be followed to outside the unit, so the first plan of action is to see if we can divert the pipes before the rainwater gets to our studio, then seal off the wells from the inside.

Given the drainage systems for the whole building are quite complicated it's not likely plan A will be viable. So we are preparing for a plan B, laying down a sub-floor. Raising the whole recording studio off the concrete so that in the case of water overflowing the wells, the water won't reach the wood flooring and damage the critical parts of the studio. This we think could add up to another £2k to the building costs, depending on the materials we use.

Secondly the floor in the back corner of where our control room wants to go slopes upwards by about 20cm. With this in mind, the sub-floor is inevitable to some degree.

Lastly, we don't have a soil pipe that feeds the unit, which means it's going to be more difficult to fit our own toilet. Ideally we don't want to rely on the communal ones for the building, they're pretty grubby... At the moment it's looking like we'll need to knock through the brickwork in order to feed the sewage system for the building.

So, lots to get on with, and we'll keep a detailed account of the studio build for you with weekly posts.