Building a Photo Studio

If you are going lower you need to be aware of the subsoils you have.

Effectively all your walls below ground level facing out, become retaining walls and will need designing to keep the water out.

Retaining walls and 'tanking' of sub floor walls do not come cheap, but you don't want a room that is damp.

If you think armoured cable is expensive, then going down into the ground and doing it properly....better check the bank balance too.
 
If you are going lower you need to be aware of the subsoils you have.

Effectively all your walls below ground level facing out, become retaining walls and will need designing to keep the water out.

Retaining walls and 'tanking' of sub floor walls do not come cheap, but you don't want a room that is damp.

If you think armoured cable is expensive, then going down into the ground and doing it properly....better check the bank balance too.

hokey dokey - this really seems like something not worth doing... :)
 
If you are going lower you need to be aware of the subsoils you have.

Effectively all your walls below ground level facing out, become retaining walls and will need designing to keep the water out.

Retaining walls and 'tanking' of sub floor walls do not come cheap, but you don't want a room that is damp.

If you think armoured cable is expensive, then going down into the ground and doing it properly....better check the bank balance too.
If I remember correctly, when we build our family home basement, the walls were concrete-filled steel-rod reinforced breeze/cinder-blocks. Outside covered in flamed-on bitumen-foil and drainage pipes around the perimeter in gravel. Mind you, this was likely one of the worst case scenarios - built into a steep hill, almost pure clay soil and high water table. Your requirements will hopefully not be that strict.
 
If I remember correctly, when we build our family home basement, the walls were concrete-filled steel-rod reinforced breeze/cinder-blocks. Outside covered in flamed-on bitumen-foil and drainage pipes around the perimeter in gravel. Mind you, this was likely one of the worst case scenarios - built into a steep hill, almost pure clay soil and high water table. Your requirements will hopefully not be that strict.

I would suggest that similar would apply to doing all basements properly. Lesser solutions are likely to fail sooner or later. Keeping the water out is crucial. Maintaining the strength of the retaining wall is also pretty important as you really don't want a few tons of earth landing on top of your model in the middle of a shoot. :)

Building Regs regard any structure deeper than 1.2m as being a basement, for which there are also a host of other requirements such as fire resistance/escape.

www.planningportal.gov.uk
 
If I remember correctly, when we build our family home basement, the walls were concrete-filled steel-rod reinforced breeze/cinder-blocks. Outside covered in flamed-on bitumen-foil and drainage pipes around the perimeter in gravel. Mind you, this was likely one of the worst case scenarios - built into a steep hill, almost pure clay soil and high water table. Your requirements will hopefully not be that strict.

I would suggest that similar would apply to doing all basements properly. Lesser solutions are likely to fail sooner or later. Keeping the water out is crucial. Maintaining the strength of the retaining wall is also pretty important. Building Regs regard any structure deeper than 1.2m as being a basement,
 
Any updates Dan?

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:) Not much of an update, I've started to clear the trees out - but it's not confirmed I'm going to go ahead with the build yet. Difficult to determine whether it's worth it.
 
Difficult to determine whether it's worth it.

Only you can answer that but thinking laterally - how much would it cost you to 'hire' a studio / hall that furfills your needs / requirements each time you want to use it>?

I'd suspect it will take a few years to spend the sort of figure that this build will cost.....
 
It's late and I'm half asleep, so this is probably a silly idea, but it will hardly be the first time I've suggested something silly, so here goes.

Why not built an infinity cove from the wall to the ceiling?
 
I seen the front that you liked the look of. I'd recommend using large windows and doors to allow the use of natural light, making it more versatile.
I'd like more height so to avoid the tanking of the walls why not dig the whole area of the building and 1 meter all around down, this would lower your ground level and not have any under the ground. You'd have a step down on the approach to the building and with adequate drainage shouldn't have any problems.
I wish i had the space as i wouldn't think twice about doing it. I hate having to compromise with space and setting up and taking back down my kit. A dedicated room/building would be awesome.
 
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