At long last the acoustic cloud in the Music Room has been completed! With 60 panels totaling very nearly 900 sq ft (nearly 1800 sq ft of active acoustic performance since both sides are used), it is a thing of beauty to behold:
But if you look more deeply, many more layers of beauty await…
This past week we passed a critical ceiling/electrical inspection, enabling us to connect power to our Music Room Cloud:
It’s always good to test that the lights work in daylight so that if there’s a problem, there’s enough light to fix it. But the real test–the test that tells you whether the lighting program is actually doing its job is the test run at night:
In the Annex Control Room the carpenters have cut and installed the subfascia for the rear soffit. Here you can see one of them putting up the decking on top:
And here are a variety of perspectives to try to show what this curvature really looks like:
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. I’m feeling a bit lazy, so I will start off with some photos showing approximately 20% of the Music Room cloud, the Southwestern section:
The same, from a slightly different perspective:
And if those two don’t do it, perhaps this one will:
Last week the first details of a new plan for the Lounge ceiling began to emerge. This week the plan is plainly visible:
While the framing looks asymmetric, the result will be perfect axial symmetry. It is even more dramatic at the other end of the room:
The work this past week fit into the category “more of the same”, with three new concrete pours connecting with the trough drain. Here’s where we stand right now:
And here’s another perspective:
The trough drain and the Patio diamonds started to become one this week:
The patio diamonds on the right are hard up against the drain’s right hand side, and the masons are preparing the rebar for the pour on Monday that will establish the patio to the left of the trough drain.
“Water cannot be controlled, but it can be trained”
We start this week with some of the wisdom given to me by our construction foreman. Thankfully, I have never experienced the devastating impact of a flood first-hand, but I have seen the consequences of ignoring the cumulative impact that water can have on an otherwise well-designed and well-kept property. For this reason, I opted to be extra-careful in addressing potential drainage issues at every step of this project. By addressing the inclinations of water up-front, we seek to train it to travel where we’d prefer, rather than trying to control its flow post hoc. And central to that plan is our central drainage strategy: the trough drain that runs between the two buildings:
Since the patio between the two buildings is level along the length of the two walls, the drain is progressive, so that water falls from the patio out into the field. Here’s a reverse angle that shows how much deeper the drain gets along its length:
While we await some magical creations from the carpentry shop, the masons and the concrete crew have center stage. Here’s a view of the almost-completed North Patio:
Here’s a little more detail about this weeks work…
This week I’m choosing to highlight the progress we’re making on the Annex. Six months ago, the north face of the main studio was transformed as five 500-lb windows were carefully installed into the masonry voids. This week a much lighter task awaited, as four lithe double-casement windows slipped effortlessly into place:
While the physical installation is now complete, they are not yet trimmed or finished. When that’s done they will look very much like they match the Cypress of the soffits.
Here’s a view of the operable windows from the inside:
Manifold Recording / The Miraverse 
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