A challenging acoustic design was planned to movie audio editing rooms by Akukon
The late 19th-century harbour warehouse is not your favourite place to fit in soundproof working spaces. That was found out in Helsinki Katajanokka area, inside Meguru film sound Ltd. In addition to making full-length movies, Meguru also produces soundtracks for short films, commercials, documentaries, and television series.
In between wood and brick
Brick made storage buildings were built in the Katajanokka harbour area of Helsinki according to the 1895 town plan.
– The interior was very challenging, that is, an old two store warehouse with wooden floors. The studio is located on the first floor and is filled with wooden pillars and bars, says Akukon's Janne Riionheimo, an expert in building and room acoustics.
The other edit was wanted to be as large and high as possible, which forced one pillar to be left inside the room. The roof bars had to be soundproofed separately and build a new roof between them.
– We got two new edit rooms in a tricky space, which was made floating excluding the pillar. Pretty much work is done here and now it is noticeable that sound leaking into the neighbour can not be reduced any lower in this kind of old building, says Mikael Nyström, a sound designer at Meguru.
The upper sound insulation of the floor was weak, which Janne Riionheimo found out already in the preliminary measurements.
– Sound insulation measurements were also made after the construction to ensure good upward sound insulation. Based on the measurements it was decided how to insulate the bars and pillars inside the editing room.
The structural details in the warehouse were so challenging that the first group of carpenters withdrew from the job.
– Luckily, a trusted guy, Teemu Laitinen with his team offered help. Cooperation with Teemu has been going on for 10 years. Because Teemu has a lot of experience in studio construction, you don't have to draw everything to the end. In this project, it would have been impossible because the details had to be finished on the spot one by one.
A Brief History: From the Finnish Film Foundation's studio to Meguru
The Finnish Film Foundation built Finland's first high-quality movie sound studio in 1985. The studio still operates on the same premises. Nowadays the studio is run by Meguru film sound Ltd.
The acoustics of the main movie sound studio was revised to a demanding THX quality rating in 1996. Thereafter, the mixes sounded even better in theaters, provided the theater met the same standard.
A complete renovation of the studio was carried out according to the plans of Akukon's Anssi Ruusuvuori in 2002.
The facilities were expanded with three new audio editing facilities in 2010, also following Akukon's instructions.
| Client | Meguru film sound Ltd |
|---|---|
| Project start | 1. stage 2010 2. stage 2018 |
| Project ready | 1. stage 2010 2. stage 2019 |
| Project type | 1. Three movie sound editing rooms 2. Two movie sound editing rooms |
| Akukon's services | Acoustic design |
| Team Akukon |
Responsible consultants: Janne Riionheimo, Henrik Möller ja Anssi Ruusuvuori |
Text: Jukka Sundholm
