Garden studio questions

[scottduffy]

Guy's i was talking to my father in law last night about building a studio at the bottom of my garden and he seemed to think it would be no problem. He asked me the following questions though and i was wondering if anyone has already built a free standing studio could answer them for me.

A) What dimensions should the building be?

B) Should this be built from timber or stone?

C) Should there be any place for natural light coming in like windows/glass doors etc or should it be only lit from inside?

D) Should there be more than one room maybe for changing or tea/coffee making facilities?

I am asking as i believe someone who has built something like this will have done something they wish they had done differently and i would like to hear what that was.

My garden is approx 56 feet long and 22 feet wide. I was thinking maybe the bottom part which i currently have slabbed for my table and chairs/bbq etc would be suitable. This is 22 feet x 12 feet and can be extended without any problems. The height i am not sure about at all. I would like it as high as possible but i'm not sure what the planning dept would allow. I'll contact them today.

I wil also need to think about heating/lighting as well as what type of finish for the walls,floors and ceiling.

This is not happening for a few months due to the weather up here and also i'll need to finalise every detail before i consider starting so i'm in no hurry for replies. I am also looking thought all the previous threads regarding this type of venture.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jerm]

Bear in mind planning restrictions, which can be the cause of much irritation.

IMHO the issue will be the height. Current planning restrictions say (amongst other things) that the building can't be over 2.5m high within 2.5m of a boundary. That leaves an internal height of less than 7ft, which is very tight - some would say unworkable.

Timber would be fine (I have a number of colleague who work out of timber studios), but should be well insulated and preferably double skinned.

Size wise, it depends on what you'll be shooting, and how. If you work to the premise of 6-8 feet of separation between the subject and the background, and a further 6-8 feet between you and the subject, then you're up to 15ft+ for the length already.

There will be limitation on any home studio due to size etc, so think carefully as to what you intend to shoot and how.

 

[nikonuser]

Aden is the Man in the know best asking him and viewing his threads
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=271169

Dave

 

[gman]

I would definitely have a very good think about the whole process as I believe it will not only be more time consuming that many think, but will also cost a lot more than many people realise.

I would be more inclined to build a studio onto the actual house as it will increase the value of the property more than what is essentially a large fancy shed at the bottom of the garden. But if building onto the house isn't possible, then it may be an option.

Once you've got your estimated cost from build to completion sorted, add 10-20% on top of this for unforeseen costs and errors.

 

[scottduffy]

Thanks guys. Gman i had thought about that but my wife is hoping to put an extension onto the house next summer so i'm not sure we could build something that would essentially be a dining room extension with a studio built onto that. That would be huge and maybe even unworkable as there would be no window/patio doors on the extension due to the studio behind it. Unless of course i built both of them parallel to each other. Really not sure what to do here. I think maybe i should ask someone like a builder/draughtsman to draw something for me to give me an idea of what i could do.

Edit,

Just spoke to planning and the idea of a much longer extension to the house which would allow a studio on one side and the dining room on the other seems like a good one although i think this will cost a hell of a lot of money compared to a free standing build at the bottom of the garden. As has been said though it will add a significan't amount of money to the property value so it's something we will lok into. It's just a pity 2 story extensions are seldom allowed as this would have been ideal.

 

[gman]

I can instantly think of four good reasons for an extension over a free-standing one (if the free-standing one was made of brick):

1. You already have one side built, i.e. your house and possibly two sides if you were to be doing the dinning room extension anyway.

2. I would expect the studio to be easier to keep clean as you aren't having to trek through a garden to get to it.

3. It will be easier and cheaper to extend services such as electrics and plumbing. You'll also gain with heat from the house coming through (nice for winter days!).

4. Security. It will be less enticing to rob if it's part of the main house structure.


Downside being you would probably have to make it of similar material to the house or it will look daft so the cheaper option of wood is out, unless you made it a giant conservatory type structure with blackout blinds. This could give you the option of having all sorts of natural light combinations.

If you are getting tradesmen out to do a dining room extension then it's definitely going to be cheaper to have the same guys build a studio at the same time rather than coming back out.

 

[scottduffy]

I spoke with my wife last night and she was actually quite happy when i mentioned the lager extension with the studio too. As i've said this is a long way off as it'll cost a fair amount.

Some good points made above Graham about the electrics/plumbing and security. I think i will get a tradesman out to give me some idea of what this wil cost and that will give me an idea when we can do it. I'll let you know how i get on.