BHZ Studio

At first glance, the location seemed perfect: a spacious industrial hangar, high ceilings, no nearby residential development. But the deeper we looked into the details, the more clear it became: there would be challenges. The height was constrained by a grid of crossbeams. And although the room felt large, not all of it could be used effectively. One key issue was the wall adjacent to an architecture office — separated from our future studio by nothing but a drywall partition. It was the weakest point in the entire structure, and it defined every decision that followed.

From the very beginning, we assumed internal sound pressure levels could reach up to 110 dB — especially during production sessions or rehearsals with small groups. This is typical in modern electronic music, where sound isn’t just heard but physically felt.
That’s why the first thing we proposed was to implement a room-in-room concept — a fully decoupled, freestanding structure built specifically to provide professional-grade soundproofing. The room has its own rigid frame, separated from the hangar by a 1.5-meter buffer zone, with absolutely no rigid connections to the existing shell.
But physical separation alone is not enough. The effectiveness of sound insulation in this case relies on several interdependent factors:
• the mass and density of the wall and ceiling assemblies,
• total airtightness of the enclosure,
• and carefully calculated vibration isolation throughout the system.
We applied independent decoupling not only between the new room and the building — but also between certain inner structural elements: floating floor, ceiling frame, and even some wall junctions were acoustically separated to eliminate bridging and structural transmission.
The result is a carefully engineered space, where high sound pressure levels remain fully contained, without disturbing neighboring units — and without compromising the internal acoustic quality.

The frame of the room was built using LVL beams by Steico — a strong and dimensionally stable material that allowed us to reduce section sizes without sacrificing strength. To deal with the ceiling height constraint, we used light I-beams and integrated an arched truss inspired by bridge engineering. This truss redistributed the load to the two side walls, allowing us to use beams only 20 cm high and preserve nearly 3 meters of interior ceiling height. The wall build-up included an optimal number of dense acoustic gypsum layers. The total mass and wall thickness, along with natural wood fiber insulation (Steico), helped us achieve the required sound insulation index. We used structural analysis software to calculate all loads precisely. The maximum measured deflection of the ceiling was 3 mm, well within tolerance. All spring mounts and vibration-isolated fixings were also modeled in advance — crucial for maintaining surface geometry after drywall installation and under long-term load.

As planned from the start, special attention was paid to calibrating the bass traps. We carefully adjusted depth, volume, and absorption profiles to achieve a smooth low-frequency response. This range is critical for music perception — especially in modern electronic music, where much of the sound energy lies below 150 Hz. Acoustic treatment was developed in parallel with the sound isolation — all part of one integrated system. Broadband porous absorbers and combined resonator-diffuser panels made of curved plywood were used alongside mathematically optimized QRD and skyline diffusers. This allowed us to create a diffuse sound field with a natural feel and high precision — even off-axis.

In a room designed for long hours of work, ventilation and lighting matter just as much as acoustics. We included two slanted roof windows, two front-facing windows, and a glass door. Natural light is present but limited — not sufficient for work, but excellent for atmosphere. LED lighting was integrated into the ceiling and decorative elements to enhance volume and shape. It can be tuned for day or night work. A heat recovery ventilation system supplies fresh air without temperature loss or noise. All technical components are fully integrated into the acoustic design of the room.