HISTORY
It all started with a napkin and a dream
Four years ago I started talking out loud about a dream I had. Until then, I’d kept it mostly to myself because it was a rather big dream and I wasn’t quite sure how I’d go about it. But one day I put pen to paper (pen to napkin actually - I was in a cafe at the time) and suddenly the dream became more solid.
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The idea of having my own “pop-up radio studio” really excited me. And I noticed when I would talk about it with people I’d become energised and enthusiastic. The more I talked about it, the more right it felt, and the more I wanted it. And so the vision began to take form, a little differently to the drawing I did on the napkin, but the general idea was still the same.
I loved the idea of having a caravan studio that I would tow, rather than a van studio. Even though towing it would be a skill I’d need to learn (I have since learn how to tow and love it, even the reversing).
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Around this time I was doing a radio documentary about Tasmanian architect Ross Langdon who was tragically killed in the Westgate Shopping Mall attack in Nairobi in 2013. For the story I interviewed quite a number of architects who had worked with Ross or knew him well.
One of the architects who I interviewed stuck in my mind. Dan Devine, from Maguire and Devine Architects, seemed to share a lot of the same values as Ross, and that was really important to me. I asked him about my pop-up radio studio and he loved the idea and said he’d give it a go. A week or so later he came up with this:
“Well”, I said as he unveiled the drawing, “let’s go for it!”
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The brief was: to design, develop and construct a mobile recording studio that is to be attached to and towed by a standard vehicle. The studio should have excellent acoustic properties, be lightweight, well insulated, strong, warm and inviting internally and eye-catching externally (it didn't end up as light as I hoped but it definitely met all the other criteria).
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Dan finds someone who will further develop the design and build the studio. His name is Guy Paramore, from Guy Paramore Designs. After a couple of meetings we sign an agreement. With the green light we proceed onwards!
The project team consists of Dan Devine - Lead Designer (External consultant) and Guy Paramore - Project Facilitator/Designer and me!
The studio takes a year to build.
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The completion date is July 2018.
