Some very exciting news to end the year on: we’ll be ready with a brand new studio floor space at the beginning of 2025.
We’ve spoken about our company’s purpose before, which is to build a platform for talent to flourish, and now we are literally building a new studio floor space to meet the demands of our growing client base, and to create more ‘Sacred Space’ for creative talent to have sustainable careers in the industry by expanding our music and audio post production studios.
This new studio supports our vision to be pioneers of the Audio Arts in Africa, servicing the global media industry with world-class work while growing the local industry here.
James Matthes, Pressure Cooker Studios CEO says: “It’s incredibly exciting times here in Africa as the untapped potential is starting to be unleashed in the global media industry. We’re so excited to have the opportunity to expand our infrastructure and grow our talent pool as the industry grows.”
It was an easy decision to reach out to Martin Pilchner of Pilchner-Schoustal (based in Canada) to design the new studio floor space on the 6th floor, as he expertly designed our existing 9th floor ‘sacred space’ that we’ve been in since 2019.
What we did differently this time round was bring on Jacob van der Westhuizen from Benjamin Pro Audio, experts and leaders in acoustic design and studio building in South Africa.
Both Martin and Jacob let us pick their brains about this new studio design and build:
MARTIN:
You’ve worked with James and Pressure Cooker Studios in the past, designing their current studio space. Tell us a little bit about that experience?
We have worked with James before on the initial studio build. We have great memories of that experience. Working with creative people is what we find rewarding in our work, and James was not only pivotal in communicating the ambitions for the project but was also a great collaborator in working through both design and construction issues.
What was your brief and vision for this new floor?
This new floor is tasked with accommodating a growing business model as well as broadening the technical capability of Pressure Cooker Studios. The addition of several new edit rooms will serve the daily creative output. The foley studio will enable both high quality ADR and sound effect creation. The Atmos mix studio will be a state of the art high resolution spatial audio mix environment. All these abilities extend the depth and breadth of what Pressure Cooker Studios has to offer.
How did you balance aesthetic with functionality in your design?
The design must function, and the environment has to be a space that makes people feel comfortable. The technical performance is a given and our general design approach is acoustic rationalism, where everything serves a purpose. Apart from that, the goal is to create a space where people feel inspired, and if successful, feel so great in the space they don’t want to leave. A studio by definition should be” a workspace for artists”. The job is to make them feel creative and inspired and reward them with compelling results. Leveraging natural light, using natural materials, using building elements as composition, and creating opportunities for interaction all work toward this goal.
What sets this new floor apart from the current PCS studio space?
What the new and existing floors have in common is the building. This new floor is a departure from the offerings of the initial studio in that it not only provides more ideation / creative space but ups the capability considerably with a dedicated Foley/ADR studio and a high-performance spatial audio mix studio.
What makes this studio unique from other facilities you’ve designed in the past?
With the new and existing studios Pressure Cooker becomes a holistic space for Idea Creation and Realization. What makes the facility potent is the types and combinations of spaces where “you never have to say you’re sorry”. Ideas can be acted upon with no obstacles to the process.
What was the most rewarding or challenging aspect of designing this studio?
One of the most rewarding parts of this studio build is the ability to work with the Pressure Cooker Studios team. Being able to openly share and discuss ideas is the hallmark of a great project, and this level of collaboration is something we cherish. It is a privilege when clients put their trust in us to design their space and this is something we hold sacred. The challenging parts of the project, like the initial build, are dealing with the constraints of the building proper. The challenge is to make those constraints disappear.
Do you feel the Pressure Cooker Studios (existing and new) are on par with cutting-edge studios around the globe?Pressure Cooker is a very capable facility, on par with Post Facilities world-wide. Having a great facility is a good start, but Pressure Cooker also has great people.
What are your thoughts on the impact this new studio will have in the industry in South Africa?
This facility will broaden the reach of South Africa in providing a broader range of service at the highest level in a globally competitive market.
How has the collaboration with Jacob from Benjamin Audio been around the project?
Jacob from Benjamin Audio has been an absolute pleasure to work with. He is exceptional at realizing the design intent and has proven a valued asset at working through construction, lead time and site issues. Jacob always shares keen insights and is a valued collaborator in bringing this studio to life.
JACOB:
Tell us a little bit about your experience working with Pressure Cooker Studios?
It has been a great experience working with PCS. The brief was straightforward and information was always available whether it was from Martin at Pilchner-Schoustal or from James directly. The staff at PCS on the 9th floor were also very accommodating to us nosing around when we needed to come check on aesthetic decisions from the current space and didn’t moan about our drywall dust foot steps when we trekked through.
What makes this studio unique from other facilities?
The unique design from Pilchner Schoustal is one of the stand-out features. The space utilisation is very good and the flow works very well. The space, incorporated with the existing 9th floor, is going to be an amazing “go-to” space. It will have the infrastructure and flexibility to handle everything under one roof due to the existing studio on the 9th floor, and the addition of 10 edit suites, an additional ATMOS mix suite and the Foley room.
What was the most rewarding or challenging aspect of building this studio?
The most challenging and rewarding aspect would be working outside of our usual way of doing things. Working with Martin’s plans and design was insightful and also challenging due to the nature of the site and the need to maximise every inch of the space. Finding local solutions to match the specifications required took some doing, but working with my teams and creating solutions with Martin was rewarding in meeting his spec and seeing the completion of the plans has been super fun.
Do you feel the new Pressure Cooker Studios floor is on par with cutting-edge studios around the globe?
Yes, as mentioned I think not just the ATMOS and Foley rooms are cutting edge, but the fact that there is a whole other existing studio floor to cater to other needs on the 9th floor make this one of the most unique and forward thinking studio spaces.
What are your thoughts on the impact this new studio will have in the industry in South Africa?
This would raise the bar for other spaces as this is easily going to become a space where many collaborators could call “home base” and return to for a myriad of projects and requirements.
How has the collaboration with Martin from Pilchner-Schoustal been around the project?
Martin has been great. He has always been available to answer any questions I needed answered and always willing to consider all alternatives we threw at him for locally available solutions. From discussions of low profile acoustic hangers to HVAC solutions around pesky beams and columns, he was always keen to find the best, most cost effective and practical solutions. In the end I believe we achieved all of the goals from Martin’s design and the reality of the site, even though some of it took some wizardry and thinking out of the box, it was all achieved to spec in the end.
The experience has been incredibly easy and professional and we can’t wait to unveil the new floor.
James says in closing: “We’ve always been about pairing the right talent with the right project. We are incredibly privileged to have had Martin design another state of the art studio for us on the continent and have Jacob execute Martin’s high-spec vision and collaborate with him to ensure the standard is world-class. We’re competing as an industry on a global level now, and are invested in raising the bar to continuously meet and exceed those standards. We’re particularly excited by the opportunities the new dedicated Foley stage will bring in elevating our sound design and audio offering of our studio but also from the African continent.”
Come visit us for a coffee and see how our creativehub of audio pioneers and composers in Cape Town has expanded!
