Building a studio on a large trailer-Acoustics Forum-Acoustic Fields Forum

I am a piano teacher that is about to commission a company that specialises in tiny homes build me a teaching studio on wheels. This is to get around planning permissions, and have a structure outside the house I can bring with me if I move.

The space’s primary use will be as a teaching space with a baby grand piano inside (1.5m x 1.5m). However I would like the space to double as a recording space so I can invite musicians and get some practical experience at producing, recording and mixing. I’m thinking piano, violin, vocals, guitar, bass, maybe occasionally a drummer might bring his drum kit.

I own a pair of Adams F5 monitors but am prepared to mix with a pair of Audio Technica M50x headphones if I can’t make the space work for this third purpose.

The only limitation is that the width cannot be bigger than 2.5m to be legally allowed to transport on a road in Australia, so they make the trailer 2.4m wide. The trailer is custom built and we’re thinking 6m length so we can fit in a small toilet. The height can legally be up to 4.3m but we are considering a more reasonable height, perhaps someone could advise?

Soundproofing is a key priority as I don’t want to annoy neighbours and have the occasional van driving past on a take (we live in a quiet suburb, neighbours are 12m-20m away). The builders make the structure with thin gauge steel and I’m thinking to have them make a double decoupled structure with an air gap in the middle. I’m not sure what thickness I would need, from reading online I’m guessing 30cm total wall thickness (with an air gap in the middle), which would make the inside dimensions 1.8m x 5.4m. Maximum weight is 4.5t.

For the space to not feel like a coffin, we’re thinking to have a double glazed glass sliding door in the middle of the side wall and at least one other window. Would that defeat the decoupling? Would I need two decoupled sliding doors one behind another?
As it is a custom build, the space can be made very airtight and I have read about the need to acoustically seal any fixtures and make the air conditioning duct snake through some insulation.

We will soon meet their architect to discuss every detail, and any thoughts anyone has would be hugely appreciated.

Kind regards,
Gaspar