Room Ratios & Asymmetrical Walls

Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 8:18 am

I live in Berkeley, Ca. I am beginning a design to turn my 2-car garage into a rehearsal space & I am avidly reading Rod Gervais' book. My goal is a rehearsal space for jazz ensembles that will not annoy the neighbors in my residential neighborhood. Amplified music, but not quite rock 'n roll levels. This is NOT to be a recording studio: I will have one undivided room. Construction starts this summer, if I can get my design together.

I would give you more info on noise levels, proximity to neighbors, but it's not germane to my rather basic and preliminary questions i.e. shape of the room. I am building room-in-a-room, and I have some choices as to shape.

If I design symmetrically (which I don't believe I should) I have a space to carve up that is 16 feet by 20 feet, with an 8 foot ceiling. This is your classic, problematic small room, it seems to me.

Rod says (page 21) "Walls should be out of parallel by at least 1 in 10, or 6%." I plan to angle one of the walls at least this much.

My question is how to figure this in to the room ratios Rod offers on page 29 courtesy of Sepmeyer and Louden. The ratios are for H, W, and length. I will have four numbers if I cant one of walls. My plan is to cant one of the shorter walls by 6 to 10 percent. Should I just average the number for "Width?" They are pretty specific ratios that are being offered.

A related question: Rod actually says "Facing walls should be out of parallel ..." Is canting one wall - which I am proposing here - advisable? I'd rather not put both walls out of parallel for reasons I won't bore you with. But I could.

I can simply build for maximum square footage & deal with the outcome later, but I thought I'd try to apply some chapter 2 wisdom (Modes, Nodes, and other Terms of Confusion").

I gather that symmetry is desirable in a control room, but (again) this is not a recording studio we're talking about. It'll be a rehearsal space.

Just to - possibly - anticipate a response (or question), I don't have too many options within my small budget to tilt, vault, or recess the ceiling. I'm exploring skylights, but recessing them seems to me to complicate things in expensive ways from an engineering perspective if I'm to maintain the integrity of the room-within-a-room design.

Thanks !

Clark Suprynowicz
Berkeley, Ca.

Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 8:07 pm

deja' vu!

I thought I just saw Madmax answering these questions!

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 12:00 pm

Mad Max suggested I post here & I did so.

Is Mad Max correct - when measuring to a canted wall - that I can just take the average of the distance from my flat wall & use that to establish a room ratio?

To review the problem, room ratios are provided as height, width, length. Assymetrical walls give you four (or more) number to consider.

All guidance appreciated. As I have the oprion to carve up this space in verious ways, I'd like to be smart about it if I can !

Thanks -

Clark

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