In the
planning phase for over two years, construction of
a vastly
improved Baked Beans has begun. (Fear not, however, as the
current
facility continues to function fully until the new studio opens -- we anticipate
only
about 3-4 days of downtime to move all equipment and wire it all together.)
Because
Rob decided to retire, Alan gladly bought out Rob's share
of
the business. The new facility will be on Alan's property,
which is on a
dead-end
road on a mountain top with panoramic views of the western mountains.
A great
deal of research has gone into the acoustic design of this building:
There
will be:
-a
main room measuring 26' x 30' with a vaulted ceiling,
-two
isolation rooms, each measuring 7' x 13',
-a
fourth 17' x 18' room housing the 1930 Mason & Hamlin grand piano.
-and,
a 14' x 20' waiting room with bathroom.
All
interior walls will be non-parallel, but symmetric.
All
rooms will be networked and hard-wired
with
audio, CAT6, headphone sends & mic returns.
There
will be radiant heat in the floor, which is not only efficient
and
comfortable, but silent.
"ICF"
-- ever heard of it? Don't be embarrassed. Most
Americans
have no idea what this is, but it has been prevalent in Canada
for
over 15 years. ICF stands for "insulated concrete forms".
Nudura
is the company that makes this product, which is essentially
24"
x 12" x 16" hollow styrofoam blocks. The entire studio
assembles
using these interlocking Lego-like blocks that are then
reinforced
with rebar and then filled with concrete
to
make a single, solid concrete wall structure
with
3" of foam insulation both inside and out.
The
benefits of this construction include:
- great
insulation properties (>R50!! -- Green!)
-unmatched
soundproofing with an STC rating of 53 (a standard
2"
x 6" wall has an STC rating of 25).
The
sound system will be upgraded to a JBL 5.1 LSR4328 system
acoustically
matched to the room to assure the best mixes possible.
Over
the next few weeks, I'll be posting pictures of the progress
of
the construction process. See below and keep checking back...
Finally,
there will be a free open house
with refreshments when
the
new facility is ready to start hosting clients.
An
announcement of the date will be forthcoming,
but
we anticipate sometime in August...
-- Baked Beans Recording Studio, Inc.
This shows "Henry's Concrete" crew applying bracing to the Nudura styrofoam blocks as they erect the hollow walls.
Here is the "Northeast Concrete Pumping" truck pouring
the concrete into the
hollow Nurdura "lego's" after they have had rebar
put in place.
Note: articulating arm is high than the trees!!!
This fellow has a RF remote control unit around his
waist to control the
pumper arm movement and to regulate the flow of concrete.
(I bet he is good at video games!)
Here is the poured floor with the radiant heat embedded.
Note: pipes under the floor to carry electrical,
audio, CAT6 and telephone cables.
Finished concrete work.
Setting the trusses on the main room and raftering
the lounge and bathroom.
Note: cathedral ceiling with scizzor trusses
in main room.
Sheathing and shingles are going up on 6/25-26. More pics to come...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OLD "News"
Baked Beans
makes the Portland Press Herald 10/19/06
(apologies to the guitarist
below: his name is Don, not "Dan")
