The principle reason this part of the design stage was kept in house, according to Bala, was because of the technical issues specific to the creation of radio studios. However, AMP were keen to create a strong visual impact in the space, so when tendering the contracting projects they included the need for a professional design firm to create a killer concept for the studios. “We decided when putting together the brief that we wanted a transparent concept. We put that out to tender and after one month three companies had applied”, says Bala.

Combining the design concept with the technical requirements of a radio studio was perhaps the greatest challenge for the project.

breaking the brief
Intan Mokhtar, Creative Director, SL+A Sdn Bhd, A member of the Steven Leach Group, explains that “the brief for us was to create the design concept for the studios. They had previously created a radio station for a very young Malaysian audience and they asked us to use this as a benchmark. It was created for a young, hip audience, so we thought, if they’re ready for this we’ll give them something more.”

Jamie Wong, the Senior Designer who worked on the project, made a conscious decision to push the boundaries of the surrounding environment, which was a traditional staid corporate facility in “shades of black and grey”. Mokhtar explains "we could have come up with something expected, but we went in with the concept that this is going to be the heart of AMP, you need colour, you need energy.” Driving the visual element was their primary role, she says, “AMP specified the technical issues very clearly, they basically incorporated our design into theirs and vice versa. Our role was to ensure the design element was carried through.”



acoustics
Combining the design concept with the technical requirements of a radio studio was perhaps the greatest challenge for the project. Each studio is placed on its own isolated floor platform, to ensure vibrations would not carry between the rooms. The wall structure was also vital, a multilayered system of 16 mm and 20 mm cement sheets, with special rubber panels and vacuum buffers. The glass used to maintain the transparent effect is vacuum packed, and special acoustic materials were imported to ensure the sound integrity of the space.

improved ergonomics
Besides the acoustics and visual impression, ergonomics for the people using
the space was a big issue for the client. For example, Mokhtar explains “AMP specifically asked for a hydraulic studio table, so the DJ has the option of standing up. It’s designed to swivel but allows the operator to still manage all the control panels.”

The radio broadcast consoles themselves were also redesigned to improve usability. “We studied, we called three of our DJs together and asked them: which buttons do you normally press?”, says Bala, “So instead of pressing five to six buttons in order, we programme one macro button to do all those steps.” This enabled AMP to simplify the broadcast console, reducing the space requirements for the studio table. This new generation of consoles were designed by Lawo AG in Rastatt, Germany in collaboration with AMP.

knowledge led design
Creating a top quality radio studio requires highly specialised knowledge and
acoustic design experience. This is because “there are no set standards,”
explains Bala, “each studio’s acoustics is configured to how the sound engineer or designer wants it to be.” However, he continues, the end goal was more than just an old school studio, “we want something that gives a ‘big bang’ to people who come out of the lifts”. In order to achieve an integrated design, successful collaboration with good partner ensured the best possible end product. As Bala says of the interior designers, “they came up with a first class job, we got what we wanted.” RFP

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