QuadCore Technology Helps Hotel Owner Exceed Code

Highlights

• Holiday Inn was significantly damaged after Hurricane Michael
• A remarkable rebuild took just nine months
• Using QuadCore allowed the building to surpass code

Challenge

When Hurricane Michael hit the Holiday Inn, it battered the structure so badly it knocked the building out of plumb, shredded the exterior stucco and blasted guest rooms with rain and 150 mph wind gusts.

The $20 million reconstruction of the Holiday Inn Panama City required a quick nine-month turnaround time as the hotel needed to be open by the first of June to accommodate tourists visiting during the busy summer season.

Influence

Sustainability was an important factor in rebuilding the Holiday Inn Panama City. The entire hotel was designed to be hurricane-resistant, and insulated metal panels are an important part of that. If the hotel is hit by a category 5 hurricane again, it should not experience a catastrophic event.

The Holiday Inn Panama City was the first major hotel in the area to reopen that had been completely damaged. Many nearby properties haven’t been touched yet. In addition to tourists, guests today include construction crews rebuilding other damaged structures and businesses, military personnel displaced from Tyndall Airforce Base, and other business owners and their employees.

While the hotel was built to last, it was also built with aesthetics in mind. The BENCHMARK Designwall panels are finished in Granitstone^â, a Kingspan specialty finish that has the look of stucco masonry.

Solution

Florida Architects suggested cladding the building with insulated metal panels to save on time and money. Kingspan’s BENCHMARK Designwall 4000 panels were ordered with QuadCore in January, shipped in March and the hotel was up and running by June – allowing the hotel to open before a busy tourist season.

Using QuadCore allowed the architects to use a two-inch panel and go beyond code, without adding any additional insulation. Using QuadCore also added an extra level of fire protection.

“We’ve used insulated metal panels before and we were confident that this would be the fastest and most economical way rebuild the hotel. Beyond the speed of build that panels provide, they’re also more sustainable, help prevent heat transfer, reduce the thermal load on the building, enhance exterior sound transmission, and are low maintenance.”

Joseph Sorci - Principal Architect and President, Florida Architects

LOCATION

Panama City, FL

CONTRACTOR

Horsley Construction Group

MANUFACTURER

Kingspan Insulated Panels

DATE COMPLETED

June 2019