The acoustical design of SUBCAT Music Studios was carefully considered from the early planning stages.  In order to address the acoustical challenges associated with the project site, the existing wood framed structure was removed and replaced with a new, stiffer, long-span concrete floor deck to support isolated ‘room-within-a-room’ construction for the studio spaces.  These ‘room-within-a-room’ constructions were comprised of concrete floating floors on springs, isolated walls and spring-isolated ceiling. The Control Rooms were located along the street facade to engage the public interest and also because of their slightly higher tolerance for noise exposure as compared to the recording spaces.  Heavy, triple laminated glazed windows with large airspaces to address airborne noise from traffic reduced the background noise levels from NC-39 to NC-15.  The use of isolated constructions not only isolated the spaces from environmental noise and vibration but also maximized acoustical separation between spaces – acoustical separation of up to NIC-70 was measured in the completed space.
       The existing building also presented design constraints related to the studio proportions and shaping.  The existing floor to ceiling height and structural masonry walls limited the volume and dimensions of the recording spaces, and the building storefront openings needed to be radically altered to allow for the shaping of the Control Rooms.  Room proportions were carefully studied and the potential for problematic room modes addressed by altering geometry where possible, and also with special low frequency bass absorbers such as RPG Modex Plate and Modex Broadband.  Diffusive RPG materials such as Diffractal, Skyline, and Omniffuser were employed to help ensure a diffuse sound field and flat room response.  These panels are incorporated into the design of the studio walls and in some instances, located above an acoustically transparent fabric ceiling.  The desire to place the Control Rooms behind storefront glazing led to a live-end-dead-end control room design with glass along the sidewalls.  Control room geometry and finishes were carefully designed to avoid early sidewall reflections and included absorptive panels and diffusive treatments such as RPG Diffractal, Flutterfree and Omniffusor.  The Live Room is a neutral room with flat frequency response as shown in the waterfall plot.  The Live/Track Room was created as a flexible recording space with asymmetrical acoustical treatments (absorption at the front and sidewalls and an acoustically reflective double-sloped rear wall). The acoustical response of the room changes with the position and orientation of the musician.
      The interior geometry of each room was developed in close collaboration with Lally Acoustical Consulting, who also dictated the specific acoustic performance requirements in terms of absorption, diffusion, and reflection for every surface.  The studio wall treatments were developed as a vertically striated ribbon, akin to a DNA strip.  This design motif, which continues into the exterior storefront glazing, allows a variety of treatments to be incorporated within a single unifying theme.  The result is a series of beautifully integrated and unique spaces, each clearly expressing its acoustic signature.