Now it becomes more demanding. The challenge is that the middle floor has very few and small windows. In Norway we have something called: The working Environment Act’s exemption for daylight requirements. The Working Environment Act normally requires at least 10% of the floor area be covered by window surfaces, but the rules do not apply to cinemas, bars, nightclubs and so on – rooms where people don’t live, or work, and rooms where darkness is required.
NOTE:All images can be seen in their original size by selecting: Open image in a new tab
::I’m trying to use the terms: Top floor, Middle floor and Ground floor, to avoid confusions::
The Middle Floor
Originally two empty rooms + toilets The middle floor should have a room for online-editing and grading, a kitchen, toilets, a technical room and an Audio-suite consisting of a Control room, a VO booth, and a tiny, but useful, foley stage. Since this floor was going to be used for dubbing, voice-overs and video postproduction, this was the room that most customers; directors, producers, foley-artists and actors would be using. So it needed a nice customers area, insulated not to disturb work in the studios.
Entrance / customers area
I made some early sketches:
The entrance, view from the outside
The entrance, view from inside
The entrance – inside, another angle
The kitchen.
So far, so good, but what about the rest? The Working Environment Act allowed for a bar. I created several sketches in an effort to make something distinctive and lively, and landed on The Soundbar.
It turned out to be an even better solution than I had hoped for. The bar became the place where directors and actors hang out during breaks or waiting periods. The SOUNDBAR - Always open – all rights presumed :)
It became a hub where people meet and sometimes hang out after work.
The Video postproduction: Online /Grading
These sketches are made as illustrations to send out for comments an approvals. Beautiful Brigitte Bardot was unfortunately lost. We really didn’t need any diffusor panels for the back wall. The radiator placement and the ventilation was not decided at the time, and some changes to the décor were made later. But in general, this is what was built:
We wanted a room with natural acoustics. Dead rooms become very tiresome after a while, so I tried to dampen the acoustics with some angled walls, an absorbent ceiling and carpet on the floor. If more dampening was needed, we could fix that later.
I constructed a front wall with room for a TV-monitor and three speakers: The openings on top are for ventilation. 3 active DynAudio speakers and a 65” TV will produce some heat.
Testing for size:
The technical room is built fast. The carpet is already ruined…
… and it took a while to replace it.
A sliding glass door for the entrance to the video-room, both to create some “space” and provide some light for the kitchen area. If privacy is wanted, there is a curtain available.
To avoid misunderstandings, my design was printed in A3 and were used during the building process:
The Audio-suite
For the control room, I had some 20 m2 available. I decided to use 3 m2 of them for a voice-box.
Room for one person.
Going from this…
to this:
Windows to the foley stage:
The foley stage:
The next thread
will be about The Ground Floor. Lots of hidden problems and no ventilation.
USA
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Re: Part 2. Middle floor. Constructing and building a film postproduction house.
That’s an interesting challenge, and it makes sense since postproduction spaces often benefit from controlled lighting rather than natural daylight. Using the exemption from the Working Environment Act is a smart approach here. For the middle floor, you might consider integrating advanced ventilation systems and layered artificial lighting to create comfort without relying on windows. Acoustic treatment also becomes crucial in such darkened spaces. I recently came across a builder’s perspective on similar specialized projects at Revord Builders Inc. , and they showed how careful planning of airflow and artificial lighting can make window-limited areas highly functional. Balancing comfort and technical needs is really the key in this type of design.
Norway
Joined: Apr 18, 2014
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Re: Part 2. Middle floor. Constructing and building a film postproduction house.
Hello, and thank you very much for your comment. When it comes to video post-production, it is definitely best to keep daylight out and have full control over the light sources. For recording and audio post-production, however, a combination of daylight and artificial light is often preferable. Acoustic treatment of the room is of course essential, and it also depends on whether one prefers to work in a dead room or in a more lively space. Personally, I prefer an acoustic environment that is not completely dead. Bass traps and diffusion panels are usually effective, and parallel surfaces should of course be avoided. Advanced ventilation is a must, and careful adjustment of the airflow to create a slight overpressure has proven to be the best solution in this case.
All in all, I feel I’ve managed to solve most of the challenges quite well given the conditions. We have two completely dark rooms: one is the theater where we do the final sound mix, and the other is used for lighting and colour grading, where we work with calibrated monitors and must avoid any stray light.
As you say: balancing comfort and technical needs is really the key in this type of design.
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