When designing your studio you must take account of its location, structure and materials. I have seen too many studios which have been badly designed. For example on Technology college has a hollow metal support going from the floor to the roof. It takes up a little room, but worse, becouse it is hollow it picks up a lot of ambient noise, in particular from aircraft flying a few hundred feet overhead (the college is on the approach to an airport! ). The same college has the studio floor below ground level so that the roof of the whole college was level. It rained heavily one day, the pumps were turned off and the studio was submerged in maybe a foot or more of water ! All the equipment was ruined and it cost £250,000+ to repair. All becouse whoever designed the studio did not stop to think about its use. So, the moral of this story? Never let the designer get his own way. You are the one who has to work in the studio, not him. If its not practical, don't do it. Do not let the designer add fancy things to the building if it will interfere with the workings - he may win an architechtural award for his design, but all you will get for it is a big headache - trust me, I speak from bitter experience !
Location
Your choice of location is vital. If it is too close to other buildings you may get ambient noise from the music rooms, or vice versa. It must have access to a road or car park (especially if you plan to hire it out after school hours) and a 'road' leading to an access point in your studio so you can load scenery or even drive a vehicle in. (the flooded studio I mentioned wanted to do this, but the designers built a ramp with a 90 degree bend which you could not even get a mini down, this also aided the flooding! ).
Reception
This need not be a full reception room, but if you plan to open it to the public then a place for visitors to go would be advisable, especially on security grounds. It also looks very professional if done properly, though an office for the studio manager near the front doors will suffice. There must be a phone for taking studio bookings or for emergencies. Make sure it has an outside line. Our college phones run through a switchboard so if you need an outside line and the switchboard operator has gone home you are cut off from the outside world. I would also advise pjhone extensions in the gallery, classroom and edit suite (but not the studio).
Office/Classroom
You will need a classroom with tables and board so that students can learn the theory before they enter the studio. It can also serve as a base of operations for classes or a room for students to work on their paperwork and scripts, or just view rushes. Make sure you get a large tv and video for film studies lessons.
Studio
The studio should be quite large and high, about the size of a school gym or hall should do. It should have a strong ceiling to support the lights and must be soundproofed. You can buy special soundproof tiles though it may be cheaper to buy sheets of foam and place it on the walls. You need something to deaden the sound. If you have smooth flat walls you will have problems with echoes. There must be a large exit with access fo a car or minibus to get in (you may want to film a programme about vehicle maintainance), this will also act as your fire exit. Do not have flourescant lighting unless you plan to turn it off during filming as it can intererfere with sound and cameras. Remember there will be no windows as you do not want any natural light enetering the studio as it will upset the cameras colour balance. There should be plenty of wall sockets for power, as well as camera, microphone, intercom and lighting sockets (which should all be kept seperate to prevent interference).
Gallery
The gallery is where the recording is done. It should be a large room becouse you may want a class of students to watch as a show is made and you will need room for them to watch. It should be overlooking the studio floor with a glass window so the gallery crew can see what is happening on the studio floor. Ideally it should be split into three sections, sound, vision and lighting. The sound area will monitor the sound recordings and add sound effects when needed. The lighting room will control the lighting and the vision room will control the cameras, titling, recording and will be where the Director controls the production.
Edit Suite
You must have a seperate edit suite area. It does not need to be soundproof, but should at least be in a quiet area. Again there must be plenty of power sockets as you can have up to a dozen machines running at the same time. Have a window which can be covered so the editors can have some fresh air, and also see what is happening in the outside world. (the LWT edit suite has no windows so its editors often feel like moles, arriving, working and leaving in the dark).
Storage areas
You should have plenty of storage space. There should be a tape library so tapes can be kept safe, an equipment cupboard for portable cameras, etc, and a storeroom for other items
Changing Rooms
Just having toilets will not do for a studio, there must be a place for the actors to change into costumes, and it should be large enough for several people to change at once. They should not be placed near the studio or edit suites as the noise can be distracting, as can any smells!!