Help the Architect

[NateArchitect]

Alright guys, whats up. My name is Nate (as you can see) and im a 2nd year Architect in college.

My assignment has been to develop a 1000 sq. ft house that would suit a photographer. I understand there is a dark room and a matt room (not sure what this is) but i do not know the required equipment needed. Are there any other rooms you guys would like to have? Maybe a room for shooting film out of? This only has to be for basic photography. We are just now learning how to design houses. Any input of required equipment or examples of your layouts would be GREATLY appericiated.

[BarryS]

Well, you can add a studio with at least an 18 ft ceiling--with some nice big north-facing windows. A room for matting, mounting, framing, and storing prints is your "matt" room.

[lenser]

Hi, Nate.

Try to find a copy of the the book "Set Up Your Home Studio", part of the Kodak Library of Creative Photography. May be your local library will have it, or someone in the local camera club, or maybe even a local pro. Guess what, the entire series is bound in Kodak yellow.

The whole book is devoted to your assignment including photos and schematics as well as tons of good advice and copy regarding how to have spaces for multiple usage.

Good Luck.

Tim

[David A. Goldfarb]

1000 square feet for living space and photo space isn't huge. You could combine the matting/mounting space with a studio of about 12x15 feet and put the darkroom off the studio. The print finishing area should be in the back of the studio area adjacent to the darkroom ideally, because less space is needed for the camera (at the back of the studio) than for the background and set (at the front of the studio).

How about designing the kitchen as potential shooting space? An island gas cooktop (architects often like induction cooktops for their clean lines, but people who cook usually prefer gas) with counterspace and room for lighting in front and behind and high ceilings are good things.

[jnantz]

high ceilings and skylight windows that can be blocked off as well

[John Kasaian]

How about making the garage a multitasker so it will serve as a studio? You can also design the bath to multitask as a darkroom by designing a generous countertop to accomodate an enlarger and trays. A matt "room" could easily co-exist with another room by making a generous counter with storeage underneath for mat boards & frames & trimmer and press. This wouldn't be a solution for a "pro" but any hobbyist would jump at the chance to have such features.

What I'd consider as being desireable elements:

Room for an enlarger---at least a 4x5 model (since you mention that it is to be a dark room I'll assume you're designing a conventional darkroom rather than a digital) and a place to store photo paper.

Counter space for four 16"x20" trays and a place to store them.

A sink to mix chemicals and you can fit a print washer inside of it, and a place to store the print washer, chemicals, graduates, thermometer, swizzle sticks etc...

A place to hang negatives to dry. A clothes line suspended over the bathtub or sink is adequate.

A place to lay prints to dry on screens large enough to accomodate the largest common size print (16"x20" say) and a place to store the screens.

A place to plug in a dry mount press and a place to store the press, matboard, mounting tissue, tack iron and wieght.

A place to cut matboard and trim paper and a place to store the cutter and trimmer.

A place to store cameras & lenses etc...

A freezer to store film and vodka in :D.

A studio with a place to store lighting and big a$$ honkin' electrical panel to power it all.

A wine cellar and scrap book/hobby room to keep the missus happy :)

A cool set up would be two rooms---

A dark room with a sink along one side big enouigh to contain the trays and washer with storage underneath (the wet side) and a large counter on the other side for printing and loading film holders with storage more storage (the dry side)

A mat room/studio with a high cieling, large North facing windows and a generous counter on the opposite side for matt cutting and the press with---you guessed it---more storage.

Add a workbench in the garage for building props, building and drilling lens boards, mitering moulding for frames and other stuff and you'll have a facility any 'tog would have been happy with :)

I hope this helps!

[cyrus]

Google Seliger’s “In My Stairwell" for interesting use of a former stairwell in his studio for a photography background. it has its own skylight

[CG]

What they all said - plus...

Multiplex the space. Everything has to have multiple uses when you are making do in 1000 sf. Living room is shooting space too. Bathroom doubles as darkroom. Dining room doubles as matting space since you already have a big table there.

Maybe even to the level of having a Murphy bed in the LR to make it triple up as bedroom, living room, shooting space.

C

[cjbroadbent]

I am very envious of photographer who can build a studio and get it right from the start. if I could, I would build the whole thing around the daylight studio and for once get the north-light window in the correct place.
On the left, Ok, but not down the side of the room. Not behind the photographer either. The background wall should get more light on the far side than on the window side. That means a north-light window diagonal to other walls (a trapezoidal studio?).
The photographer would need the lighter side of his subject against a darker background and the shadow side of his subject against a lighter background. Look at a statue in a niche - light on dark, dark on light. They got this right 3000 years ago.

[Sal Santamaura]

...if I could, I would build the whole thing around the daylight studio and for once get the north-light window in the correct place.
On the left, Ok, but not down the side of the room. Not behind the photographer either. The background wall should get more light on the far side than on the window side. That means a north-light window diagonal to other walls (a trapezoidal studio?)...Christopher, you have made a substantial contribution here in your small number of posts so far. I humbly request that you continue that trend by sketching out your "ideal studio," including dimensions, compass orientation, wall color(s) and window locations, then posting scans here. Just in case someone who wants to get it right might actually have an opportunity to build a studio, rather than simply including one in an architectural assignment. :)

Thanks in advance.

[Gordon Moat]

North facing window, if there is potential for window light. Continuous curve at floor to wall, and wall to ceiling, on at least one wall, or ideally at a corner. Make capability to run lighting up at ceiling level, with room for large softbox. Skylights are a nightmare, unless you make some method of blocking them off; indirect light is more desirable for photography. Place for a stylist, make-up artist, or simply somewhere for talent/models to prepare. Include a counter and bar stools somewhere for refreshments.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography (http://www.gordonmoat.com)

[cjbroadbent]

Sal,
Hope you are not taking the micky. I post a lot on rainy weekends.
I'll do a sketch next Sunday.
C.

[r.e.]

Just in case someone who wants to get it right might actually have an opportunity to build a studio...

I'm in that boat at the moment. I've been so focused on stuff like the kitchen that I haven't even thought about a studio, but I am now, and so I'm intrigued by this discussion. At the risk of looking quite stupid, my best interpretation of Christopher's post is that the studio might look very roughly like this trapezoid, modified to include a north facing window, except maybe with more extension (a) of the upper and lower parallel lines toward the right or (b) of the lower parallel line toward the right. My interpretation does make for a studio that would seem to have a distinct impact on the rest of the floorplan and/or the orientation of the whole structure. From both practical and aesthetic perspectives, it might work better as a standalone building. It would also be possible to do it in a more conventional space with movable walls/partitions, or drapes attached to ceiling tracks. If my understanding is more or less right, I'm interested in finding out what the architect on my little project thinks. If I've completely misinterpreted Christopher's post, at least I'm likely to soon find out :)

[photographs42]

I don’t quite know where folks here got the idea that a studio should be included. Not all photographers want or need them. 1000sf isn’t much for a house in the first place and, if a darkroom and matting area is required, I don’t see how there could be room for a studio anyway.

You don’t say where you are attending school, but if the program they gave you didn’t include a list of required spaces it’s a weird school. I have been an Architect for 42 years and am yet to have a client that relied on me to tell him/her what they had in mind. As the Architect, you need to know how the person lives, are they married, kids?, what kind of photography?, and on and on. All of this information comes from the client and you should have been given that. I am also a photographer (LF B+W Landscapes) and I have about 800sf dedicated to darkroom, mounting, matting and framing, but I don’t have, need or want a studio.

Good luck,
Jerome

[neil poulsen]

What a neat project. You've come to the right place.

One question that I have, is this for the digital photographer or a traditional photographer? (Traditional means film, which implies a darkroom, etc.)

[r.e.]

I don’t quite know where folks here got the idea that a studio should be included.

We got it from this sentence in the original post: "Maybe a room for shooting film out of?"

aka a studio.

People are having fun with the question. Surely that's OK. To be honest, it isn't even entirely clear from the original post whether the "client" is necessarily an analogue photographer.

As for 1000 sq ft not being much for a house, I don't know. It's the size of a lot of European flats, including the one that I had. European architects/designers seem to have a real knack for designing for that much space.

It's also the size of a lot of the houses that the architect Robert Mellin talks about in his book Tilting: House Launching, Slide Hauling, Potato Trenching, and Other Tales from a Newfoundland Fishing Village (Princeton Architectural Press): http://www.amazon.com/Tilting-Launching-Hauling-Trenching-Newfoundland/dp/1568988079/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212958989&sr=8-1. The houses and ideas in this book are of particular interest to me at the moment because I'll be building in a fishing community in that part of the world this fall. I'll come in at quite a bit more than 1000 sq ft, which actually presents a design problem, because what I'm learning is that scale in relation to the rest of the community is something that I need to pay attention to. In fact, I'd recommend Mellin's book to the student who started this thread. He might find it very helpful.

I especially look forward to Mr. Broadbent's further post next Sunday, if he has time, on studio design.

Cheers

[cjbroadbent]

Off the cuff.

[NateArchitect]

WHAT AN AMAZING COMMUNITY.

You know, i belong to a forum for my 350z and they are nowhere NEARLY as helpful as you guys. I appreciate the time and thought you have put into your answers more than i can express. I hope all good things come to you guys for not tellin me to "search" or some empty ended answer like that. Once again, thank you so much.

[r.e.]

Off the cuff.

Maybe, but you have raised two really interesting questions.

First, how is the dispersal of northern/diffuse light affected by the geometeric shape, and height, of the box that it illuminates?

Secondly, where does the photographer want to be positioned in relation to that light and where does he/she want the subject to be?

Then there's the question of how this fits together with what you call the niche.

I suspect that there is already a computer model to test the first question, and that the model allows one to input sunpath data for a specific lat/long.

The first question could also be tested with a miniature physical model, and perhaps a flashlight, that made it possible to change the orientation and height of the walls.

Sounds like a fun experiment.

[cjbroadbent]

With a window facing north, There is no need for a diffuser. That's the whole rationale -the bare sky is the source. The photographer is facing the background, his subject is 6 ft. in front of the background. Nothing else to it.
A lot of us do the same thing with an artificial window-light or a big umbrella. The difference is light fall-off - because an artificial source is not a thousand miles away.
C
Ps. In fact, a round source is better than a rectangular source for a soft gradual penumbra. This is because a straight edge on something like a box or a nose often often gets parallel to the side of the window, creating an abrupt shadow.

[r.e.]

By "northern/diffuse light", I meant light that is already diffuse, not using diffusion.

My earlier post was from a mobile device, so I have just now seen your diagram. That space is easy to construct. The background wall could be portable. It could easily double as living space, and with a 3.5m/12ft high window, pretty nice space at that. This kind of space could also be incorporated into an outbuilding that we'll be constructing.

[jetcode]

where will I live in a 1000sq ft house built for photography?

A proper studio has a large space for commercial work, a place for fashion and portrait work, an area for makeup including boutique bar with lights, a restroom, dressing room, office for business, production area, reception area, meeting space for clients, lunchroom, darkroom if applicable, and storage area for props and lighting.

[mccormickstudio]

I'd like an open white room with no corners - radius and float the corners, including where the wall meets the floor. All infrastructure and ancillary spaces (kitchen equipment, bathroom, utilities, small darkroom, storage) would fit within or fold into a wooden box (walnut, please) in the center of the studio favoring one side. Include a murphy or trundle bed which folds out of the box. Yes, the north wall - all glass, as few segments as possible, which slides open completely. And finally, a ceiling just like Renzo Piano's Cy Twombly gallery at the Menil Collection in Houston - completely skylit with a taught canvas stretched over its entirety.http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/06/03/arts/04houston.large1.jpg

[SAShruby]

Don't forget the changing room and the offIce with the computer and that nasty digital 44" wide Epson priner and ugly scanner!

as well as 12 feet high ceiling for 8x10 enlarger, with vacuum easel and Pt/Pd exposure unit.;)

[Brian K]

Some good ideas already posted here, but there seem to be an emphasis on daylight studios. Most studio photographers require the ability to darken a studio so that they can use their own lighting. Many even paint the interiors black ( but they don't keep them like that because those studios are way too depressing)

Having built several studios for myself over the years I have taken the liberty to post jpegs of the blueprints for 2 of them. While they are both far larger, 5000 and 7500 square feet, than the 1000 square feet that Nate needs to build, all the elements of a studio are in place in both of them.

As I photographed many different subjects there are additional things like professional kitchens, a huge a mount of storage and also several offices as I also rented space to other photographers who shot everything from fashion and beauty, still life, room sets, etc.

I hope the jpegs are big enough to read.

[Don Dudenbostel]

I do commercial photography and the studio I had for 18 years was 6,000sq ft. It had 18 ft ceilings, 14ft garage door, loading dock, dressing rooms, makeup area, reception and waiting for clients and large darkroom plus warehouse storage for flats and props. My shooting room was 50x50 ft with a 48 ft infinity wall. I closed the studio 8 years ago and condensed everything down to a 1,200 sq ft studio. This includes modest storage, shooting room, smaller darkroom, office and computer, scanner and printer space. The darkroom is rarely used for business other than art photography and the computer, scanning and printing area get the majority of the use.

All of us here are dedicated film shooters whether personal or for art photography. Now the majority of photographers are entirely digital and a darkroom is not needed but a scanning, printing and computer room have replaced the darkroom. A studio is much less important as most clients want location photography.

[Sal Santamaura]

Sal,
Hope you are not taking the micky...A Google search helped translate from British to American. :) I was serious, not teasing. Your effort is greatly appreciated.


Off the cuff.


...The photographer is facing the background, his subject is 6 ft. in front of the background...In fact, a round source is better than a rectangular source for a soft gradual penumbra. This is because a straight edge on something like a box or a nose often gets parallel to the side of the window, creating an abrupt shadow.Based on what you've written on the sketch itself and in your subsequent post, as well as the following assumptions, I added in a few details on the attachment below.
"Background wall 5m" refers to the wall's width
The two South openings are doors
The background wall extends all the way to the ceiling
"White curtains on the right side" refers to the West wall
"White floor boards diagonal to the room" means the boards run parallel to the background wall.
Please advise whether I've got it right. These additional questions arise:
How high and what color should the ceiling be?
Do you paint directly on the background wall or on canvas hung from it?
Is the black curtain to exclude blue skylight when shooting color with a daylight-balanced artificial source?
How much of the "right" wall should the white curtain be able to cover?
Given that the window appears to be roughly as wide as it is high, would you suggest a round window of that same (3.5m) diameter or larger. If larger, how much?

Thank you again for sharing your experience and insights here.

PS to those who are closer to the Antarctic Circle than the Arctic Circle. Please excuse our bias. Replace "N" with "S," "South" with "North" and "West" with "East" when reading the above.

[Mark Sampson]

Someone should find the plans for Edward Weston's "palatial shack" in Carmel. I beleive his grandson Kim lives there now. By all accounts it's small and simple, and they tell me that many good photographs were made there.

[cjbroadbent]

Sal,
You are very kind to take up my very modest suggestion.
All ok except for:
*Floorboards run at rightangles to the background. Gives you perspective.
*Cieling white, to bounce a bit of fill off.
*Paint the background wall once and for all. That's you signature. Do anything else on double bedsheets on stretchers. But remember to veil (mist over) the sheets before they dry.
*Black curtain is for modelling the light source a bit. Anyway I always use daylight with T film and an orange filter because it gives good colour at the very long exposures you need with LF.
*White curtain(s) should cover most of the west wall when you need gentle fill.
*No round window. Just the biggest window you can build. I wish I had one. Tuck the curtain for shape..
*Again, no continuous limbo background - ever. That was thirty years ago. Your viewer needs a horizon to stay orientated.

For the architect: The store-room for backgrounds, sets, props and foam boards is as important as the studio. I've shot in studios all over the place and usually they are so bunged up with stuff stacked against the walls that there is hardly room left to shoot. World's worst is Conde Nast N.Y. I once dug through layers of flats looking for a background and found a cupboard containing a set-up Deardorf with rubber bulb and tube melted into the shelf and a note saying "Dont touch! P.Horst".

[Sal Santamaura]

Thank you for patiently answering my questions.


...Ceiling white, to bounce a bit of fill off...Is there a particular height you'd prefer for the ceiling? This is an "ideal studio" after all, and it can be placed wherever you want.


...Again, no continuous limbo background - ever. That was thirty years ago. Your viewer needs a horizon to stay orientated...Ah, so that's what you meant. I'd interpreted the sketch note as a reference to sufficient shooting depth so the photographer wouldn't need to dance a limbo getting behind the camera!


...Conde Nast N.Y. I once dug through layers of flats looking for a background and found a cupboard containing a set-up Deardorf with rubber bulb and tube melted into the shelf and a note saying "Dont touch! P.Horst".So, did you touch it? Did you close the cupboard and hide it behind the flats again? Is it still there today? Perhaps it should be moved to MOMA. :D

[Don Dudenbostel]

Someone should find the plans for Edward Weston's "palatial shack" in Carmel. I beleive his grandson Kim lives there now. By all accounts it's small and simple, and they tell me that many good photographs were made there.

Mark, I've been in Edwards old darkroom and from memory it's about 6 ft wide by 10 feet long. The door is near the end but located in the side. Along the side where the door is is the counter with his paper cutter, dry mount press and a small light bulb above where the contact frame would be. On the other side is the sink. Small but effective and about all that's needed for small prints. Remember he never printed larger than 8x10 and only contact printed.

The entire house was originally a single room plus the darkroom at the end. I think the second room which was a bedroom was added in the late 30's or early 40's by Neal when Edward became ill.

[Mark Sampson]

Don, thanks for the info. I was joking about the elaborate concepts seen in this thread, and by extension the many fancy studios I've seen and worked in, (but never owned). It's just that the original requirement sounded like something a modern-day Weston would want. Certainly no one has ever done more with less than he did!

[Jim Ewins]

Perhaps the Architect should take a course in photography first. Too many designs incorporate the ignorance of the architect for the user. I recall the results of the UW Arch students designing a McDonalds. Ha Ha Ha Ha. Jim

[neil poulsen]

Does the square footage include a garage? Does the house include a garage?

I would think that, in a house this size, some rooms need to double up. As a practical matter, must one be able to sell this house later?

A guest bedroom could double as a matt room. If it had one of those fold-into-the-wall beds on one wall, perhaps it could have a fold-into-the-wall working table and recessed shelves or cabinets on each side on the adjoining wall? You could have photographs on the underside of the working table, so that they became visible when the table was folded into the wall.

I suppose the bathroom could double as a darkroom. At least, the bathroom could be back to back with a darkroom, so that the same plumbing was available to both. If doubled up, the sink doesn't have to be that large. Developing can be handled with two trays: one for the developer and a second for stop, fix, and rinse. Final wash could be in the kitchen. Perhaps one could have a pull down counter for bathroom use that could cover half the sink. The underside of this counter could have darkroom equipment, like timers, electronic thermometer, etc. Cupboards under the sink for tray storage, etc. Put the enlarger in a shower stall with a curtain that can be removed for enlarger use. That keeps "wet" separate from "dry", as long as the shower doesn't come on accidentally.

Living area could double as a studio. Perhaps it could be on one end of the house, with a wall of light (floor to ceiling) on the north end that could be completely curtained when using flash. Having nice landscaping outside this window would be a real plus. If for portrait use, one could have places to photograph outside. Benches for sitting, etc. An adjoining wall that curves to the floor is always nice. Maybe this could have decorative advantages when the room is being used for living, versus as a studio. Backdrops could be be drawn up into a module that hangs from the ceiling?

Include good lighting for illuminating photographs hung on the wall, like in a hallway.

Just some thoughts. Sounds like a fun project.

[cjbroadbent]

Sal,
In reply to your ceiling height question: an ideal studio would have a 6m (20ft) ceiling. That would put the window light source at a nice height. Mine is 5m (without a window) and the background only just makes it without revealing the top edge in a w/a vertical shot.

[Sal Santamaura]

...an ideal studio would have a 6m (20ft) ceiling. That would put the window light source at a nice height...Does this refer to the 3.5m tall window in your sketch being placed at the top of that 6m wall? That would put the bottom of the window 2.5m above the floor.

[cjbroadbent]

Forget 3.5m - just floor to ceiling within reason. In a skyscraper? Block off the The bottom 2m. Forget measurements anyway: all you are trying to do is to get the light across to the far side of the background, hitting the subject on it's way. Like it was coming from a big umbrella.

[Tin Can]

Old thread but interesting!

First read today.

I have had 3 studios.

1st, a one room storefront 12 X 24' sink, toilet only. In ghetto $300 monthly 1984. I worked next door in unheated 1910 horse buggy shed fixing cars. I made my odd sculpture, on the sidewalk.

2nd, 650 sq ft, one room with kitchen, full bath. Converted 1902 factory. Another ghetto. South glass block, I blacked out and made into studio/darkroom. I slept on bed inside a pallet rack. Started doing studio photography 2003. By 2016 I was done with urban renewal and big money taking over. Sold it 2016 way too quickly, should have asked 10% more...

Moved rural to start over, converted old cheap house to studio in living room, all windows blacked out, darkroom in biggest bedroom.

I am still getting over having any yard, driveway is gravel, turning to grass. :)

My point, a dedicated studio is worth it, any size, anywhere.




Alright guys, whats up. My name is Nate (as you can see) and im a 2nd year Architect in college.

My assignment has been to develop a 1000 sq. ft house that would suit a photographer. I understand there is a dark room and a matt room (not sure what this is) but i do not know the required equipment needed. Are there any other rooms you guys would like to have? Maybe a room for shooting film out of? This only has to be for basic photography. We are just now learning how to design houses. Any input of required equipment or examples of your layouts would be GREATLY appericiated.

[LabRat]

Hopefully Nate got paid by now... ;-(

Steve K

[neil poulsen]

Wo, I can see you're getting lots of ideas. Here are some more.

My darkroom is a good example (I dare say) of a compact space. (See 1st photo.) The dimensions are close to 6'x8'. On the left is a cabinet, the sink, and beyond the sink, an 11x14 print washer. My enlarger to the right of the shelves in the center is capable of printing up to 8x10 negatives. (4x5 enlargers are kind of the standard.) I built my own stand.

All the plumbing and electronics have been mounted on a 4ft sheet of plywood that can be detached from the wall.

I also built a stand for the darkroom sink. The sink is a Delta "The Sink" which is suitable for prints up to 16x20. (https://www.freestylephoto.biz/62470-Delta-The-Sink-II-4-Foot-ABS-Darkroom-Sink-(48-in.-x-33-in.-x-13-in.) There's space under the sink for shelving, and the all important print drying racks. Somewhat larger than 16"x20", the racks can accommodate prints up to that size. (See second photo.) On the right of the sink and stand is a Versa Lab 11x14 archival print washer.

To the right of the door (out of sight), is a 8"x18"x48" custom built print drying cabinet that can dry sheet film and lengths of 120 roll film.

A living room with black-out windows can double as a studio. Portable kits are made to hang a background cloth for portraiture.

A dining room w/table can be used as a matt room. A Logan 40" matt cutter and a 20" Roto Trim paper cutter could be concealed in a small cabinet, along with vertically stored 32"x40" matte boards.

A small desk and chair with a Mac Pro tower computer (to save desk space), along with a I(not huge) graphics quality monitor will work as a digital darkroom station. Space should be reserved for fine-art quality printer. This area can also work as a family computing center, though some sort of toner cartridge printer will also be needed.

The third photo shows a compact, under-stair closet that can store lots of gear on the walls, and on a cart that fits right in the center. The closet has shelves on one side and peg-board on the other. The cart has peg-board on both sides.

If the house has grounds (and a patio?), garden areas or scenes could be designed and incorporated for portrait photography.

[Pieter]

Hopefully Nate got paid by now... ;-(

Steve K

Probably not, it was a school project from 13 years ago. But maybe he has had the opportunity to put it into practical use. Or he could share the plans or shots of a model if he made one.