We take a look at the installation of the new recording and production studios at The Royal College of Music in Stockholm (KMH), designed by WSDG. This institution was originally founded in 1771 and has been a training ground for some of Sweden's most famous composers and performers over the past two and a half centuries.
KMH recently completed a major overhaul of its recording and production suites as part of an extensive fifteen-year renovation project to build a new campus. To support its music performance and composition programs, the school enlisted the services of global architectural acoustics consulting and A/V integration firm WSDG (Walters-Storyk Design Group) to design its three main stereo control rooms.
Maximum performance
From the outset, the entire renovation project was designed to give KMH and its students a first-class facility to meet the needs of the school's robust performance, composition and music production curriculum. In addition to new classrooms, practice rooms and concert halls, it included recording studios and control rooms that could be used for a variety of production applications.
"The entire design of the new campus was done to meet high international standards," explained KMH sound engineer Markus Sjöberg. They wanted "the best possible acoustic performance and an aesthetically calm, organic and modern look to inspire our students, while providing them with everything they needed to do their best work." Likewise, Markus Sjöberg says they were "very familiar with WSDG's expertise and advanced design process, so it was a clear choice to work with them on this project."
In addition to stellar acoustics and aesthetics, another important goal for the studio design was to bring all aspects of the school's programs closer together. Advanced interconnectivity was required to allow students and faculty to make the most of the school's robust concert programming.
"The concert program is very active at KMH - more than 400 a year," said Sjöberg. "Documenting these performances is an integral part of our curriculum, so it was essential that the system design of these spaces match the acoustics in quality."
Amazing results
The WSDG design team on the project was led by senior project engineer Thomas Wenger, and included partners Dirk Noy and Romina Larregina. Presented with an almost finished building, the team faced the challenge of designing critical listening rooms that could fit within the existing infrastructure and HVAC systems.
"Extensive experience has established a unique skill set and special tools to use in solving the acoustic problems that arise when designing within existing spaces," explained Noy. "For KMH, this meant new room geometries that would provide an accurate sonic representation of the sound field throughout the room, while fitting within the building's existing infrastructure."
The team created a design package that optimized the studio acoustics through the use of carefully tuned low-frequency absorbers made of perforated plywood, specifically for superior sound at all listening positions. Working on the project remotely, the team expertly used KMH's extensive documentation and measurements for on-site construction by local studio builders Studiobyggarna AB.
"Larregina explained that they designed the new studios to get excellent left/right imaging and also to compensate for the extensive low-frequency problems they were experiencing inside the rooms," and that "KMH gave us very detailed feedback on the rooms, which made the work go smoothly, and ultimately produced results we are incredibly proud of."
The completed control rooms provide KMH students with a variety of useful recording and production environments, including Studio 1, the largest and most versatile studio; Studio 2, which features an analog console and is optimized for students to work on their personal projects; and Studio 3, a multipurpose mixing room designed for broadcasting and streaming work.
All three studios are connected via advanced Stagetec and DANTE networks that allow them to be used together, or with any of the school's main concert halls.
