Soundproofing Case Study: New York's Lollipop Lounge

The popularity of "Live/Work" communities is a growing trend in many major cities. Especially so in New York, where many areas of Manhattan - from Greenwich Village and SoHo to the trendy Upper East Side - are enclaves within the city, where people live, work, shop and play in the space of a few square blocks. These communities pose a unique set of problems derived from a diverse gathering of people, lifestyles and businesses all being compressed into a very small area without distinct boundaries for residences, businesses and nightlife.


Such was the case when general contractor Anthony Cucciniello, president of the 4V Corporation, and architect, Mark Markowitz, were asked to design and build an architecturally fascinating, technologically advanced, state-of-the-art new "hot spot" - called the Lollipop Tapas Bar and Lounge - in New York's fashionable Upper East Side.

The potential problem? The Lollipop Lounge, which would blast lively pop music hits - from happy hour into the wee hours of the night - sits adjacent to, or surrounded by, a variety of retail stores, small offices and trendy upscale duplex residences.

The owners, well aware of the risks, challenged the contractor and architect to find the answer. The parameters were crystal clear: "If it is not soundproof... we'll get shut down and you guys will get sued."

Tentatively accepting the challenge, Cucciniello and Markowitz began looking for a suitable answer. "I wasn't comfortable with the older methods of soundproofing, and hoped to find something that really works. I researched soundproofing solutions online, looked at a lot of different options and finally found Serious Materials' soundproofing drywall," says Cucciniello. "I requested an architectural binder filled with test data, performance reports, product information and product samples."

With so many residences and businesses surrounding the lounge, the design/build team wanted to take no chances. "After reading the technical reports and white papers, I felt very comfortable we'd found a great solution," he adds. "We chose Serious Materials' soundproofing drywall because we needed a low cost, 5/8", fire-rated panel to meet NYC building code."

Rock and Roll Silence

Cucciniello's design/build team gutted the space and put in all new steel, new concrete, new mechanical and new electrical. They installed one layer of soundproofing drywall on each side of single steel studs and sprayed a soundproofing insulation in the wall. The ceiling is soundproofed with two layers of soundproofing drywall.

When finished, the Lollipop Lounge opened to rave reviews. "The owners were thrilled and we haven't heard a peep from nearby residents or the business owners in the attached brownstone... which is fantastic," smiles Cucciniello. "Let's face it, when you put a $100k stereo system inside such a small place, the building really rocks. Still... thanks to Serious Materials' soundproofing drywall...there have been absolutely no complaints."

"It is a really, really good product," he adds, "and one that I will continue to use, especially when we are working on inner-city residences and other projects with challenging sound issues."

Creating Heroes - One Job at a Time

Making good on this statement, 4V Corporation has since used Serious Materials' soundproofing drywall on eight other projects. Cucciniello said, "We are currently completing a dental office in New Rochelle, NY where we put in 120 panels of soundproofing drywall. For this $750k project, we installed one layer of soundproofing drywall on each side of single steel studs as well as on the ceiling of the doctor's private office and consultation room and the loud medical equipment cannot be heard at all."

"I look like a hero and we get a ton of referrals," beams Cucciniello. "Serious Materials' soundproofing drywall is a great product for us."


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