Studio Suggestions/Tips??
 

My wife and I are looking into a commercial space for a new studio. My wife is a photographer and I do video production. We are both going to have to share this new space. I'd like to get any advice from anyone who has designed their own commercial space; like things to consider, things to avoid, things to make sure you have, etc.

Currently, these are the various rooms/areas we have planned:

reception desk
lobby
meeting room (for client consultations)
sales room (for sales on photography sessions)
video production office
photography office (with an area for framing prints)
shooting studio (roughly 18' by 20')
dressing room (for studio shoots)
storage
bathroom
kitchenette

Thought I'd post up the floor plan we've created. This is just something I did in Illustrator, and it's pretty much all to scale.

Travis...looks nice. Are you going to have a screening room? Would you be able to use the shooting space for that? I think that is something you would want so the client remembers the experience.

-John

I will be screening in either the sales room or the meeting room.

The sales room will have a projector and a 6-7 foot screen. I currently show my work on a 10 foot screen, so this is a bit of a step down, but my current theater room is also 22 feet long, so the 10 foot screen is the right size. The sales room is roughly 11 feet by 11 feet, so I think a 6 or 7 foot screen will work fine.

I may also use the meeting room, which will have an LCD HDTV in the 42" range. It's not as impressive as the bigger screen in the sales room, so I'm not sure yet.

The advantage of using the meeting room is that my wife can have her assistant conducting a sales session in the sales room while her and I meet with a potential client in the meeting room. That's the current theory/plan.

Judging from your layout, I assume you already have a location picked that dictates the long design. One of the problems with hallways is that they are wasted space, and since commercial space is usually pretty expensive, it helps to limit hallways.

Yes, the space would be a shell that already has those dimensions. The long hallway is a must, but we're also looking to treat it as part of the design and aesthetic as well (which is why it doesn't just go straight back, for example). Thanks for the tip, though!

Does the location have nay future expansion possibilities, or is that looking a bit too far into the future? If things get bigger and busier, will you need a book keeper / accountant? Is that not in the plan (ie stay small and efficient?). Hope those thoughts help.

This particular place is a shell and is not expandable at all. My wife is currently using an outside bookkeeper. She simply hands off her laptop and gets it back the next day with everything done. I do my own books still, and don't really forsee the need for help just yet. Great thoughts, though.

We mostly are looking at 1 person to be a receptionist, 1 for sales (for photography sessions) and maybe 1 for helping sort images (photography) after a wedding.

- yes, that means I'm still a one-man show other than the receptionist, lol

The only thing that strikes me is that there is only one dressing room. When there are men & women for the same shoot, or for group portraits it's nice to have the 2nd just for the sake of time. I realize it may not be feasible, but just for the "what it's worth" file...

No, that's a good point I hadn't really thought of. Given the space available at this location we don't really have the option for a 2nd dressing room, but I suppose the bathroom could double for that in those situations. Not ideal, but a solution nonetheless.

Thanks!