If you're planning a new corporate headquarters or renovating an existing workplace, you may be thinking about adding a professional video studio. Maybe the company wants a place for executive communications, employee town halls, training, podcasts, product announcements, investor communications, marketing videos, or live streaming.
Whatever the reason, there's one thing I strongly recommend:
Don't wait until the building is almost finished to start planning the studio.
The architect and AV team need to be involved early.
A corporate broadcast studio should not be treated as an equipment package that gets added to the project at the end. The studio affects architecture, electrical, HVAC, acoustics, structural requirements, networking, lighting, millwork, set design and more.
The building needs to be designed to accommodate the studio—not the other way around.
Start by Determining What the Studio Will Be Used For
Before anyone starts selecting equipment, determine what the company and production team expects to produce.
For example, determine if the studio will be used for any of the following:
Executive messages
Employee town halls
Training programs
Podcasts
Interviews
Product demonstrations
Investor presentations
Live events
Marketing videos
Social media videos
The answers will have a major effect on the size, layout, equipment, lighting, acoustics, and infrastructure required.
A studio designed primarily for a CEO sitting at a desk can be very different from one designed for product demonstrations, panel discussions, green screen or multiple permanent sets.
I delt with this firsthand while working as a producer for Burger King World Headquarters. I was given the task of planning and designing a professional studio after all the pre-construction space in the new building had already been assigned.
With a small space and a 9-foot ceiling, I was asked what we could shoot there.
Realistically, they couldn't get much. The space could support two-person seated interviews, one spokesperson framed from the knees to the top of the head, or children. Clearly, this would not meet their needs. The space was also right next to the elevators, with a busy hallway.
Fortunately, I was able to convince them to make major changes before construction took place. Had those changes been made afterward, correcting the space would have been expensive at best—and maybe even impossible.
Choose the Space Before You Choose the Equipment
One of the biggest mistakes is selecting a studio location simply because there happens to be an empty room available. There’s a lot that should go into the choice.
Is the potential space next to a restroom? Is there an elevator nearby? Are there offices where people are constantly talking? Is there a busy hallway with foot traffic outside?
These locations may not matter much for a conference room, but they can matter enormously when you're trying to record clean audio.
You also need to consider what's above, below, and outside the room. Will it be below a mechanical room? Is there a road, airport, loading dock, or other source of exterior noise nearby?
How about windows? They can allow outside noise. Even when they’re covered, the sunlight changes throughout the day which makes maintaining consistent lighting more difficult. Glass windows can also create unwanted sound reflections.
I've shot a video in a studio in Miami where railroad tracks were right outside the Cyc wall. You had to be aware of the train schedule to avoid disruption. Not ideal!
Some environmental issues are impossible to avoid, but it's much easier to choose the best location during the architectural planning stage than to try to fix a bad location after the building is finished.
Don't Forget the Ceiling
The ceiling is another thing people frequently overlook.
A professional studio may require a lighting grid, acoustic treatment, rigging, curtains, scenic elements, or other equipment overhead.
You need answers to these questions:
How high is the ceiling?
What type of ceiling structure is being used?
How much weight can it support?
Where are the structural attachment points?
Are there sprinklers?
Are there pipes?
Are there HVAC ducts?
A studio can look large enough on a floor plan and still not work well once you consider everything that needs to happen above the talent.
These requirements need to be coordinated with the architect and the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing teams before construction begins.
Plan the HVAC, Power, and Data
A studio is different from an ordinary office when it comes to HVAC.
People need to be comfortable, but the HVAC system also needs to be quiet. Air moving through a duct can be picked up by microphones. HVAC equipment cycling on and off can ruin a take.
The location and design of vents, equipment, ductwork, and mechanical systems must be considered as part of the studio design.
Power and data also need to be planned around the production system.
Consider that a studio may have cameras, lighting, audio equipment, displays, teleprompters, production systems, computers, servers, streaming equipment, control systems, network switches, and recording systems.
The power distribution needs to be designed appropriately, and the AV team and IT/network team need to be talking to each other early in the project.
Power conditioning should also be part of the discussion, along with a UPS system, depending on the production requirements.
Plan the Studio Before You Build the Building
Add your studio after the building has already been designed, and by the time the walls are finished, it may be too late to fix problems with ceiling height, noise, HVAC, structural requirements, power, data, or the location itself.
That doesn't mean every corporate studio needs to be large or elaborate. It means the space needs to be designed around what the company actually plans to produce.
The earlier the studio designer, AV team, architect, IT team, contractor, and other project stakeholders are involved, the more opportunities there are to make the right decisions before those decisions become expensive—or impossible—to change.
Ultimately, a successful corporate studio starts with the building. Get the space right first, and everything that comes afterward has a much better chance of working as it should.
