West End's hi-tech bohemians
From sci-fi Bladerunner to earthy Celtic, modern editing suites are at the cutting edge of interior design.
MARCUS FAIRS talks to AKA Design, eclectic kings of this specialist field.
Soho, London. Bohemian as ever, but these days it's not so much low-life
as hi-tech: the narrow streets form the nucleus of the capital's electronic
media industry and seedy doorways that once led to illicit pleasures now
conceal some of the most sophisticated video post-production studios in
the world.
Stuffed with digital technology, ad agencies and TV producers use these
facilities to edit their footage and to add sound and visual effects.
"All our clients are incredibly competitive, and they're all right
next to each other so they all want us to create something special,"
says Guy Wilson, managing director of studio interiors specialists, AKA
Design.
The owner of Space Studios, for instance, wanted a starship feel. "He said: 'Go away and watch all the Sci-Fi videos you can lay your hands on. That's what I want,'" says Wilson. Other studios have asked for dollops of Gaudi tiling of Celtic mysticism, but most give AKA a free reign.
Simply put, studio design is about intelligently placing boxes of electronics in a room. "They tell me what equipment they've got . it's my job to place it ergonomically and consider sight lines," says Wilson.
Additionally, in sound studios, sound proofing and acoustics are crucial. Right angled corners are out as they give a nasty echo, and a full floating system - basically a room with in a room, built on a thick rubber pad and not touching the structure of the building - is employed to provide sonic insulation.
After that it's a question of style by the lorry load. Studio users are a very design - conscious breed, so a sexy environment can help attract business. Wilson says that some of his early studios are still in demand even though the equipment is outdated because the clients like the decor so much. Often styling doesn't have time to go out of fashion before it is ripped out and replaced because equipment needs upgrading every three to five years.
AKA use a fair amount of technology themselves. They design on AutoCad and RoboCad and send specifications electronically to manufacturers around the country. They try to avoid standard components - equipment racks, speakers castings, radiator grilles - preferring to produce an original take on what are usually fairly dull objects. One studio boasts embryo shaped, cast bronze speakers; another's are covered in Gold leaf.
A fresh palette of materials is chosen foe each project. At AKA's latest Soho commission, M2 studios, hardwood consoles are suspended on steel cables, with aluminum ventilation grilles source form marine chandlers. At the Strongroom, hand printed calico panels by former Sex Pistols graphic artist Jamie Reid adorn the walls and ceiling while the floors are laid in Welsh slate.
Aluminum powder mixed into fiber glass surfaces, cyboid cast aluminum table legs and acres of sheet steel were used to achieve the interstellar look at Space studios in Soho.
Around the corner at Grand Central, the soundproof lead-lined doors(127 kg a piece) are veneered in bird's-eye Maple, and surfaces are treated to a touch of Barcelona in the form of colourful broken ceramic tiling.
Wilson is particularly fond of novel technological solutions to design problems. Grand Central wanted to be able to separate the console from the studio at will, so a servo-controlled piece of toughened glass the size of a double garage door swoops down from the ceiling at the touch of a button and splits the space in half. other studios have monitors and projectors that tuck themselves out of sight by remote control, and all of them feature a clever housing for a crucial piece of equipment: the Sony Playstation.
Despite the extravagance of the materials, design is a minor price of a new studio. Grand central cost £1.2 million in total with the vast majority of this going on electronics. Wilson's budget for design construction and installation was £50,000. in a few years time, the whole lot will have to be replaced.
Wilson formed AKA Design 12 years ago and almost immediately fell into studio design when a friend asked him to produce furniture for his home recording suite. Now he says 99% of their work comes via word of mouth, although their internet site generates "two good, solid enquiries a week", mostly from abroad. In the last few years they have worked in Saudi Arabia, Japan, Poland, Sweden and the United States.
AKA's main competition in the field comes from architectural firms that specialise in acoustic design, although Wilson reckons that most studio furniture out there is self assembly stuff bought off the peg. "Everyone else always wanted to put square boxes around everything," he says. "I try to make sure every studio has a style all of it's own."