Live-in photo-studio a good idea?

[splitcock]

Hello folks,

Im considering converting some of my warehouse into a live-in photographic studio to share with 7 others and wanted to know if this idea suits Heres the concept:

Half the building is an open-plan new refurbished living area with bedrooms bathrooms etc. The other half is a new studio with a load of nifty cutting-edge gear ( P65?) that is free for everyone in the building to use. (with a bit of co-operation) Would people be willing to chip in a premium rent for this. The extra rent to cover purchase costs would be less than one day studio and equipment hire!

Heres the gear:

Phase One P65 digital Back with Phase645AFD body with -
80mm f2.8D lens, 120mm f4D Macro lens, 4.5m F/W 600 & 800 cables,
2 x batteries, Twin charger, car charger, CF card with F/W reader, Cleaning kit, location trolley case
+2X Red-Head lamps
MacPro
Capture Pro software for Mac & PC,
Photoshop CS4
Large Format Printer – ( yet to be specified )

Id be chuffed if I could get some feedback on this as an idea before I start grovelling to the bank and hacking up my warehouse

Im thinking around 800 pounds pcm, zone 2, London

Cheers,

Alex

[yelvertoft]

A couple of points spring to mind:
Would people be allowed to live (residential use) in a commercial warehouse building? Surely this is breaking the planning regulations? You'd never get permission to use the warehouse as living accommodation with subsequent ability to charge rent.

The 7 people all living in/using the studio are likely to be competing with each other. Sure, there's different markets - commercial product shots, fashion, glamour, portraits, but ultimately these guys are going to be living in each others pockets and chasing essentially the same business. Not a recipe for a happy co-operative life.

[robski]

If your going to charge rent for living accommodation, there is another set of regulations you have to comply with on top of the point Duncan has already mentioned. Sounds like a trip to the local council planning office is in order to see what is involved.

I think your biggest problem is going to be is getting the council to agree the change from commercial to domestic use. Councils have to maintain a certain percentage of property in their area for commercial and industrial use.

[yelvertoft]

Another point that's come to mind is that you are going to have 7 people all paying the same money, and therefore all thinking they have equal rights on when they can use the facilities. There will be peaks and troughs. Large numbers of people will want to use the place at the same time. Who negotiates who gets priority? 7 simultaneous bookings for a mid-morning on a Saturday is going to take a bit of diplomacy to sort out.

Also, the users are going to spend even more time editing and post-processing than they are taking photographs. Who decides who is going to use the computer/printing facilities? The guy using the studio shooting tethered? The guy who's client is screaming for his prints? Before I bought a 2nd PC it was bad enough with my wife and I battling over who got to use the computer. With 7 people all paying good money for the facilities, it's going to be a nightmare.

7 people all using the same studio? That means on average they'll only have use of it one day a week. That's not enough to earn a living, even if there were no clashes in who gets to use it.

Why buy a P65? The kind of people who will be using the studio will have their own cameras. Can you imagine the argument that would happen if 'tog 1 finishes his session and 'tog 2 comes along and finds all the camera settings have to be redone from scratch because of the way the other guy left it? Or even worse, didn't realise there was some subtle setting that was left untouched, meaning the results were near useless?

This whole scheme is a recipe for disaster. Forget it.