The unusually striking, prism-shaped Westin New York at Times Square, which opened in October 2002 at 43rd Street at Eighth Avenue, is a dramatic structure inside and out. Bright yellows, greens, reds and other hues highlight the main lobby and echo the color palate of the exterior, while a beam of light stretches from inside the hotel out to the Manhattan skyline at night.
     The 45-story building holds 863 guest rooms and more than 34,000 square feet of meeting and function space, including three ballrooms and 32 meeting and breakout rooms decorated in postmodern style.
     Architects turned to a number of sources for the design elements that highlight the hotel.  One key source was MICORE^® Brand Mineral Fiber Board, which they wrapped in different fabrics and mounted on the walls as decorative pieces in meeting rooms and ballrooms.

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    Pieces of the MICORE® board were cut to make a range of sizes, from 21-by5-foot rectangles to 3-by-5 foot trapezoids. Covered in several synthetic materials, including faux suede, the ballroom MICORE^® pieces feature yellow and purple palates, while the conference room MICORE^® boards are wrapped in more subdued beiges and greens.
    "We've used fabric-wrapped panels before, but this is our first time using MICORE^®," said David Horowitz of Tishman Realty and Construction Inc., whose affiliate, Tishman Hotel Corporation, owns the Westin Times Square. "It's what the contractor recommended. The MICORE^® system was easy to fabricate, deliver and install.  That's the beauty of the product for us; it was easy to obtain the shapes the architects wanted."
    In some rooms, the fabric-wrapped MICORE^® panels cover an entire wall, from column bay to column bay and floor to ceiling.  If any fabric damage should occur, the boards are easily removed for repair or replacement.
    MICORE^® Fiber Board, which is manufactured by the Industrial Products Division of United States Gypsum, is a superior substrate for fabric and vinyl-covered wall panels, office dividers and tack boards.  It is also an excellent core material for chalkboards, stove boards and other niche applications. It feature outstanding resilience, high density, an excellent strength-to-weight ratio and is UL classified for flame spread rating.