Category: Case Studies

Project: Creation of music studios

Location: London, United Kingdom

Area: 75sqm

Project year: 2019

Contractor: EG Silverthorn

RUGBY PORTABELLO TRUST 

MUSIC RECORDING FACILITIES AMPLIFY STUDIOS

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Veale Associates, in collaboration with Academia Creative, had the privilege of working with the charity to create the new Amplify Studios music production facility. With an ambition to help revive North Kensington and empower young people through art, music and entrepreneurship, the studios form part of a two-phase project to provide the local community with a safe place to explore music, nurture their passions and gain industry skills and opportunities.

As part of the refurbishment and first phase of the project, the existing vocal booth and mac lab were overhauled with a complete redesign, new acoustic treatments and audio equipment, and a new control and mix studio was designed that doubles up as a wellbeing suite within space that was used as a sexual health suite and changing room facility.

“It was critical for us to work with the young people who use the facilities, to understand what drives them and what will inspire them so the facilities would be a place they will be proud of and would want to be.” said Eloise Veale, Veale Associates’ Creative Director

“Veale Associates has transformed our studio spaces. The team has done an amazing job and every detail has been designed around the young people’s ideas without compromising the quality of the sound. Already the feedback has been fantastic: our young people can’t wait to get in there and start making their own music.”  

Mark Simms, CEO of the Rugby Portobello Trust.

Project: Creation of new reception and social space

Location: Winchester, United Kingdom

Area: 350.0 sqm

Project Year: 2018/2019

Contractor: EG Silverthorn & Darts

INTERIOR DESIGN FOR PROMINENT CITY CENTRE SITE & WELL LOVED CYBER ITALIA CAFÉ

As part of the University of Winchester’s developments, the University required an impressive reception for its new City Centre site. In addition, VA were asked to provide interior design for one of their well used central study cafes; Cyber Italia Cafe, kenneth Kettle Building.

The City Centre reception featured natural Maple timber, Corian and lighting effects, and integrated the University brand. The reception was designed around the users, and the desk ergonomically designed for the receptionists utilising it to ensure all requirements were met.

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Cyber Italia Cafe has undergone a number of transformations, it began as a chapel in the 1960’s, was then transformed into an IT Centre in the1990’s, and over the past 10 years has developed into a study and learning cafe. In August 2019 it underwent its most recent transformation where the cafe and social interaction became a more dominant element, providing flexibility for students wishing to eat and study independently or in groups, and opportunities for socialising or individual contemplation.

This was achieved through the use of mixed furniture and defining areas. The University brand played a large part in creating the important aesthetic.

“Our ambition for the University of Winchester is to become a leading provider of sound and music education. Veale Associates understood the Universities ambitions from day one, whilst appreciating the constraints on cost and time. They brought a wealth of industry and higher education experience to the project. The concept from day one was to deliver not only first class education facilities from the visual perspective but studios fully equipped to deliver the key learning objectives whilst achieving the acoustic and technical criteria necessary for studios of this type. We couldn’t have done this without the professional and creative input from Veale’s leading people Eddie, Eloise and Richard. The outcome is visually stunning, well equipped functional facilities that fully meet the project brief delivered to quality, time and cost.”

Professor Joy Carter, Vice Chancellor, University of Winchester

Project: Creation of new reception

Location: Winchester, United Kingdom

Area: 350,0 sqm

Project Year: 2018/2019

Contractor: E G Silverthern & Darts

INTERIOR DESIGN FOR PROMINENT CITY CENTRE

As part of the University of Winchester’s developments, the University required an impressive reception for its new City Centre site.

VA Design recently completed the refurbishment of the High Street Physiotherapy Centre for University of Winchester. The refurbishment is part of a series of  improvements the University of Winchester has completed this summer.

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The City Centre reception featured natural Maple timber, Corian and lighting effects, and integrated the University brand. The reception was designed around the users, and the desk ergonomically designed for the receptionists utilising it to ensure all requirements were met.

VA are proud to have a continued relationship with UoW, delivering world-class facilities for this forward looking University.

“Veale Associates understood the University’s ambitions from day one, whilst appreciating the constraints on cost and time. They brought a wealth of industry and higher education experience to the project. The concept was to deliver not only first class education facilities from the visual perspective, but studios fully equipped to deliver the key learning objectives whilst achieving the acoustic and technical criteria necessary for studios of this type. We couldn’t have done this without the professional and creative input from Veale’s leading people Eddie, Eloise and Richard. The outcome is visually stunning, well equipped functional facilities that fully meet the project brief delivered to quality, time and cost.”

Professor Joy Carter, Vice Chancellor, University of Winchester

Project: Creation of new reception

Location: Winchester, United Kingdom

Area: 250,0 sqm

Project Year: 2018/2019

Contractor: E G Silverthern & Darts

KENNETH KETTLE SOCIAL SPACE

The refurbishment was part of a series of improvements the University of Winchester completed to provide better facilities for its students. The KKB is a well loved well used social and learning space. The refurbishment included a new layout, soft furnishings throughout and heavily integrated new University branding within the space.

To learn more about the space and understand how it was used, VA spent a number of hours observing users and documenting how the space was navigated. Prior to embarking on the design development, we encouraged a student survey be carried out to understand what students like and dislike, and identify where improvements can be made. The refurbished space was highly flexible with zoning and a diverse range of furniture to facilitate the students varied working methods and usage.

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VA is proud to have a continued relationship with UoW, delivering world-class facilities for this forward looking University.

“Veale Associates understood the University’s ambitions from day one, whilst appreciating the constraints on cost and time. They brought a wealth of industry and higher education experience to the project. The concept was to deliver not only first class education facilities from the visual perspective, but studios fully equipped to deliver the key learning objectives whilst achieving the acoustic and technical criteria necessary for studios of this type. We couldn’t have done this without the professional and creative input from Veale’s leading people Eddie, Eloise and Richard. The outcome is visually stunning, well equipped functional facilities that fully meet the project brief delivered to quality, time and cost.”

Professor Joy Carter, Vice Chancellor, University of Winchester

Project: Creation of several studios

Location: Winchester

Area: 173m

Project Year: 2017

Contractor: EG Silverthorn

NEW MUSIC & SOUND RECORDING STUDIOS UNIVERSITY OF WINCHESTER

VA transformed a dance studio into a 5 room music studio complex for the University of Winchester to support their expansion of audio recording and mixing for music production and film post-production.

The University commissioned Veale Associates to review their proposals and examine course structures and content to ensure the facilities satisfied student access and work demands. VA then designed the studio complex to comprise of two 5.1 control rooms, two live rooms and a Foley room. Extensive re-modeling was also undertaken to the access corridors to provide a new Studio Controller’s office and feature timber sound wave.

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The studios were finished to a very high standard and incorporated the new University branding. The high ceiling in Live 1 provided an opportunity to design a custom acoustic diffuser manufactured by Wood-Skin and the studio equipment centered around 2 Audient ASP8024HR consoles with monitoring by Amphion and Unity Audio. The studios were fitted out with Protools and Logic and featured a Focusrite RedNet system to provide networkable audio across the entire complex.

“Our ambition for the University of Winchester is to become a leading provider of sound and music education. Veale Associates understood the Universities ambitions from day one, whilst appreciating the constraints on cost and time. They brought a wealth of industry and higher education experience to the project. The concept from day one was to deliver not only first class education facilities from the visual perspective but studios fully equipped to deliver the key learning objectives whilst achieving the acoustic and technical criteria necessary for studios of this type. We couldn’t have done this without the professional and creative input from Veale’s leading people Eddie, Eloise and Richard. The outcome is visually stunning, well equipped functional facilities that fully meet the project brief delivered to quality, time and cost.”

Professor Joy Carter, Vice Chancellor, University of Winchester

Location: London

Area: 245sqm

Project year: 2016

Contractor: West-One Interiors

The 15 year old, 250 seat Starr Auditorium in the iconic Tate Modern was revitalised as a high spec, multi-function venue to offer facilities unique to the UK. The brief given was for a state-of-the-art technical solution that integrated cinema, live performance and presentation into a single facility.

The performance stage needed a full multi channel live sound capability, while the presentation facilities should provide both the capacity for high-profile corporate hire use through to internal AV educational presentations.

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Before the technology could be addressed the acoustics had to receive a major refurbishment. The solution involved stripping back the auditorium to the structural walls to construct a more acoustically satisfying room.

Dolby Atmos was installed. Columns created sound shadows so we paired speakers to share the same audio channel so there is no sound shadowing. Base traps were put in the wall and ceiling and the speakers were concealed so that they are invisible, a move that met the approval of Tate’s project team while fulfilling the concept of transparency of the sound source.

“Thank you for such a great effort in improving the setting of the Starr Cinema. It is not obvious that someone who has been experimenting with sound for about 50 years as Laurie Anderson, is instantly convinced and happy re: the sound conditions for such a layered film. The Q&A (well, more a monologue) went perfectly sound wise, thank you for working hard on that. We were all overwhelmed last Friday by your amazing commitment”.

Andrea Lissoni, Senior Curator, International, Art & Film

Project: Performance centre

Location: London

Area: 245m

Project Year: 2012

Contractor: Preco

TOP ACOUSTIC DESIGN FOR UNIVERSITY PERFORMANCE CENTRE

Veale Associates has provided high end acoustic design for University College Falmouth’s purpose built Performance Centre, built at the Tremough Campus in Cornwall, UK. This was a large project came from various sources including the European Regional Development Fund Convergence Programme.

The University College’s Performance Centre is one of the most sophisticated facilities of its kind in Europe, dedicated to delivering innovative Performance degree programmes in Music, Theatre, Dance and Production. In addition it holds a public, year-round contemporary performance programme attracting local, regional, national and international artists.

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The centre includes a recording studio with a state of the art teaching control room, an associated large composition and live performance area, two further sound control rooms, two isolation booths, a central patch area and a tie-line system to a number of practice rooms and studio areas.

“This has been a huge project overall and the implantation of this part of it has been an example for all to follow. We have been hugely impressed with the expertise of Veale Associates who have move onto real world working. I know that the students will be knocked out when they get their hands on the new facilities and start using them over the next few weeks.”

Ian Bartholomew, Capital Projects Manager, Middlesex University

Location: Birmingham

Area: 740sqm

Project year: 2004

Contractor: EG Silverthorn

Kerrang! Radio required a contemporary broadcast facility comprising of 3 on air studios, 2 production studios, a news studio, racks room and multifunctional office, zoo area and meeting space. Live music and connectivity was of primary importance throughout so music sessions could be held anywhere and recorded or broadcast live from the studios.

High visual communication and interaction was required to reduce the physical barriers, and glass measuring 3.4×1.7m was installed to the front of the studios. This presented a number of challenges; the logistics of moving it, sound insulation and impact upon room acoustics, this resulted in the design of custom formulated glass.

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VA were responsible for delivering an air conditioning system that reused and reconfigured the existing installation. Equipment in studios and racks runs 24/7 and heat has to be removed to prevent overheating and failure. To maintain station output and operations during power outage an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and standby generator were incorporated into the electrical design. All mission critical equipment is UPS supported and the entire facility maintained by a standby generator.

“Being a vibrant and energetic brand, it was important to bring interesting materials and finishes into the design. Floor tiles were left raw to bring a modern and industrial edge and perforated stainless steel panels were installed over treatments in the studios, together with the huge sheets of glass used in the studios there were a number of acoustic challenges that needed to be overcome, but VA achieved this and the project was a huge success.”

Eloise Veale, Creative Director, Veale Associates

Location: London

Area: 89sqm

Project year: 2007

Contractor: Transmation

VA were asked by Jasmin Lee, daughter of 10 Years After guitarist Alvin Lee, to carry out refurbishments to her recently acquired studio complex. 30 years previous, VA designed and built a recording studio for Alvin at his Buckinghamshire home, the renowned Hook End Studios.

Dean St. Studios were previously Tony Visconti’s “The Good Earth Studios” where the likes of David Bowie, T.Rex and Thin Lizzy recorded.

Veale Associates were given just 6 weeks to economically redesign and refurbish the main studio and improve the acoustics. Wall coverings were changed and silver laminate accents added to give a more modern look. A solid oak floor was fitted along with a twinkling star cloth ceiling feature.

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The adjacent control room was updated with state of the art equipment including an SSL Duality and a new inter-connecting window installed to improve isolation between the spaces.

“Since opening, Dean St. has been used by many artists including Adele, Kaiser Chiefs, Tom Odell, Ed Sheeran, Paul Weller, Paloma Faith, Florence + The Machine, Robert Plant, Noel Gallagher, Miles Kane & The Wanted.

“The live room itself was designed by world famous Eddie Veale and his daughter Eloise. The acoustics are stunning and the addition of the booth facilitates many interesting combinations of live recording and tracking.”

Jasmin Lee, Studio Owner, Dean Street

“Carrying on the creative tradition of this famous space (formerly industry legend Tony Visconti’s Good Earth Studios and creative home for David Bowie and T. Rex), Duality compliments the stunning acoustic design by world famous Eddie Veale and the creative talents of the Dean St. team.”

Solid State Logic on Dean St. Studios

Location: London

Area: 345sqm

Project year: 2006

Contractor: EG Silverthorn

At 6am on the 7th September 1992 Classic FM went on air for the first time to 80% of the UK from their new Camden premises. Veale Associates designed and managed the project, ensuring they could begin broadcasting within nine months of being awarded the license. A main BR railway line ran 80 yards away from the building located next to the canal, creating problem vibrations through the 1930’s mass concrete, and the canal water level was 5 feet higher than the studio floor.

In 2005 Classic FM’s owners GWR merged with Capital Radio forming GCap Media, this amalgamation brought with it the relocation of the Classic FM studios to GCap’s high profile Leicester Square premises. Once again VA designed and delivered Classic FM’s new facilities.

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Studio tours are a feature of the flagship premise, as part of the Classic FM relocation a new waiting area, entrance and office space had to be created, and a new glazed lobby was created to provide a direct view into the studios. The Classic FM brand and style had to be prevalent throughout reflecting and illustrating their diversity whilst retaining their sophisticated, clean and tranquil appearance.

“Having created Classic FM’s first broadcast facility in 1992 it was a pleasure to be asked to deliver their new studios together with a high impact entrance, waiting area and studio corridor. The flagship Leicester Square building accommodates a range of stations with diverse styles and identities throughout, and VA has been responsible for designing many of these stations’ studios including Capital Radio, XFM and Capital Gold. This gave us a good fundamental knowledge of the building making it possible to deliver the project within a very short 3 month timeframe.”

Eloise Veale, Creative Director, Veale Associates