The Shands Guest House in Gainesville is a large Marriott brand hospitality project on the campus of the University of Florida. The 6 story building was designed to accommodate guests of the University and the adjacent Shands Hospital. During the design the architectural firm, Walker Architects, hired a renowned independent acoustical consulting firm to assist in achieving the appropriate sound attenuation ratings and recommended construction assembly details. Keep reading to learn more about this very large hospital guest house soundproofing project completed by Commercial Acoustics.

Hospital Soundproofing Standards

Per the Marriott brand standards an STC 55 is required for corridor and demising walls separating guest rooms. This is considered a luxury level sound rating and it is put in place to increase sound privacy and improve the overall guest experience.  To achieve this rating the initial design of the partitions had two layers of 5/8” drywall placed on each side of the partition. The acoustical consultant recognized this as an ineffective method of increasing the STC rating, and instead recommended the use of a single layer of Commercial Acoustics Wall Blokker Lite soundproofing membrane.

1/16” Wall Blokker Lite is a 0.6 lb/sf flexible soundproofing barrier, UL-approved and lab tested to achieve STC 55 on 25-gauge, 24” oc studs using only one layer of drywall as the finish layer. Understanding the need to reduce construction schedule and cost, Commercial Acoustics worked with the GC and drywall subs to Value Engineer the project ultimately achieving the Marriott standard at a lower cost. Commercial Acoustics was hired to self-perform installation of 180,000 square feet of material, using a 5 man team over the course of one month. The barrier was hung horizontal in 4’ wide sections for the top out, allowing MEP to follow afterwards and quickly punch through the membrane with ducting and penetrations.

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