Before You Commit: A Checklist for Your Studio Design Brief
A practical list of questions to settle on room, acoustics, cabling and power before you sign off a studio design, written for producers and technical directors weighing up a new space.
6 minutes to read
Start with what the room has to do
Before anyone draws a layout, write down what the space is for in plain terms. A studio that records a weekly panel show with three presenters has very different needs from one that hosts a small band, a rehearsal and a camera test on the same afternoon. I ask clients to list the three most common uses and the one awkward use that happens only occasionally, because the awkward one often decides the floor plan.
Count the people too. Presenters, guests, camera operators, a floor manager, a sound assistant and a visiting producer all need somewhere to stand, sit or pass through without crossing a shot or kicking a cable. A room that feels generous when empty can feel cramped once a crew of eight is working in it.
Finally, note how the room will be booked. If several teams share it, the layout has to survive being reset quickly, and that affects where fixed items go and what stays on wheels.
- List the main uses and the occasional awkward one
- State the largest crew you expect on the floor
- Note how often the room is reset between teams
Check the shell before the fit-out
The building itself sets limits that no clever design removes. Measure the ceiling height clear of beams, pipes and sprinklers, because lighting grids, scenery and camera pedestals all need headroom. Look at the floor as well: a flat, level surface matters for smooth camera moves, and a floor that flexes under foot will show up as shake on a long lens.
Ask about neighbours and noise from outside. Traffic, a lift shaft, air handling or a busy corridor can undo a careful acoustic treatment. In an older converted building, which many small production spaces are, you should also find out where the heating and ventilation run, since fan noise is one of the commonest complaints once a room is in use.
Walk the route in as well. If a set piece, a mixing desk or a camera crane cannot get through the doors and round the corners, the best plan on paper is of little use.
- Measure clear ceiling height at its lowest point
- Check floor level and how much it flexes
- Trace the route equipment must take to get in
Acoustics: decide what you are fixing
Acoustic treatment is often bought as a single item, but it solves two separate problems. One is sound escaping or entering, which is about mass, sealing and isolation. The other is how the room sounds inside, which is about absorption and diffusion. Mixing them up leads to expensive foam on walls that still leak a corridor conversation into every take.
Ask for a clear statement of the target. For speech-led television the aim is usually a controlled, fairly dry room so dialogue stays clean. For music or an audience, a little more life may be wanted. Agree which, and agree how it will be judged, ideally by listening on site and not only by a table of figures.
Be wary of any plan that treats the room as finished before it has been heard with real voices and a real mic. Allow time to adjust panels after the first recording sessions.
- Separate isolation from in-room absorption
- Agree the target sound for your type of programme
- Leave room in the plan to adjust after first use
Cabling, power and where things plug in
Cabling is the part of a studio nobody photographs, and the part that causes the most trouble when it is rushed. Ask where video, audio, intercom, network and mains will run, and whether they are kept apart. Mains cables laid alongside microphone lines invite hum, so a sensible plan separates them and crosses them at right angles where it must.
Think about growth. A room wired for exactly today's equipment is full on day one. Spare conduit, a few extra tie lines between the floor and the control room, and labelled patch points cost little during the build and a great deal to add later.
Check the electrical supply honestly. Lighting, a mixing desk, monitors, air conditioning and a kettle in the green room all draw from the same board, and the total has to fit with margin. Ask for the load worked out in writing.
- Keep mains routes apart from audio and video lines
- Specify spare conduit and extra tie lines
- Ask for the electrical load calculated and written down
Questions to put to any consultant
When you compare proposals, look past the drawings to how the work will be run. Who visits the site, and who will actually write the plan? How are changes handled once building starts, and in writing? A good consultant will say plainly what is outside the scope, such as the builder's work or the purchase of equipment, so there are no surprises later.
Ask to see how the plan is documented. Clear layouts, cable schedules and a signal flow diagram let your own crew and any contractor work from the same page, and they stay useful long after the project ends. A proposal that is vague on paper tends to stay vague on site.
Finally, ask what happens after handover. Whether the designer returns to check the room in use, and whether your crew is shown how it is meant to run, tells you a good deal about how the work is regarded.
- Who writes the plan and who visits the site
- How changes are agreed and recorded
- What documents you receive at handover
Putting the list to use
Go through these points with your producer, technical director and whoever will run the room day to day, and write the answers down. Gaps in the answers are useful: they show where you need a measurement, a quote or a conversation before any money is committed.
Keep the list short enough to use. If you can state the uses, the shell, the sound target, the cabling and the electrical load on a single page, you are ready to brief someone properly, and any proposal you receive can be checked against it.
A studio design goes well when the decisions are made in the right order: purpose first, then the building, then the sound, then the wiring and power, and only then the finish. None of these checks needs specialist knowledge, only patience and a notepad. Take the list to your next site visit, fill it in honestly, and you will be in a much stronger position to judge any plan put in front of you.
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