Doubletree Executive Meeting Center | Project Showcase | Resources

Hilton Goes Quiet for New Executive Meeting Center

Project Summary

Thayer Lodging Group (now Brookfield Properties), based in Annapolis, Maryland is a privately held hotel investment company with a growing inventory of hotels including DoubleTree Palm Beach Gardens. Many of Thayer’s properties feature conference rooms and centers that meet the stringent certifications of the International Association of Conference Centers (IACC). These dedicated meeting facilities are custom built to meet all IACC specifications for the most productive meetings, training sessions, and corporate retreats.

Gobbell Hays Partners, Inc. was tasked with building the DoubleTree Executive Meeting Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida in compliance with IACC standards, including a projected STC rating between 50 and 60. The 15,000 sq. ft. new construction includes teleconference rooms, event planner accommodations, convenient business center and lounge areas, and 7,500 net sq. ft. of flexible meeting space.

Create Quiet Meeting Space

“Thayer Lodging Group had very specific requirements that were established by the IACC. Our main acoustical design goal was to achieve an STC rating between 50-60 for fixed meeting room walls, but we also wanted to keep things simple and maximize usable floor area by implementing a single stud design. We felt the QuietRock® system would enable us to use a single stud system, providing cost savings to the client,” said Micah Padgett, Project Architect with Architectural firm Gobbell Hays Partners, Inc.

The architects had a number of up front design requirements to make the project successful.

Create an STC-rating of between 50 and 60 for fixed meeting room walls
Implement a single stud construction to save time and labor and maximize usable floor area
Obtain IACC Certification standards.
Obtain points toward LEED Silver Certification.

The Quiet® Solution

PABCO® Gypsum’s QuietRock® products allow architects to design quality, quiet spaces in high-traffic, unpredictable, noisy and busy environments like hotels and resorts. A single sheet of QuietRock® replaces the need for additional layers of drywall to reduce sound transmission. Using QuietRock products directly supports sustainable zoning approaches to land use by reducing material use, thereby saving energy and reducing emissions.

Gobbell Hays Partners, Inc. chose QuietRock® with Dietrich’s UltraSTEEL stud construction to build the quietest meeting rooms possible using single stud construction. At the time of specification, QuietRock® was the only constrained layer damping (CLD) panel endorsed by Dietrich with independent third-party testing by Riverbank. The design created an opportunity to achieve a high STC rating using less material that contributed to the LEED Certification goal.

Results to Date

“In this market, I think there is some value specifically for the superior STC rating that contributed to the IACC certification, which the owner will absolutely use as a competitive advantage. They can be assured that their product is soundproof and comfortable, which will increase customer loyalty and repeat business,” said Padgett. “In addition to our notable expertise relative to Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) issues, one of our areas of specialty at Gobbell Hays Partners, Inc. is designing for LEED Certification. We are confident we will achieve LEED Silver Certification or better for this project and this adds to DoubleTree’s competitive advantage as savvy consumers look for ‘green’ meeting spaces.” Additional benefits from using QuietRock® for the DoubleTree Meeting Rooms Palm Beach Florida project include:

An STC Rating of 52 using a single sheet of QuietRock® on one side of a single stud
Faster implementation time than other soundproofing designs
Lower total cost than other soundproofing designs
Points towards LEED Certification. Based on LEED-NC, QuietRock® can potentially assist
architects and designers in obtaining LEED Certification
UL fire rating