Overview
The Paul Mitchell job was a full-ballroom takeover: wall-to-wall panel walls and custom carpentry installed inside a hotel ballroom, not a convention hall. That meant working around fixed architectural features, hotel carpet protection, and noise and access rules across a multi-day install. From raw frame to finished face, every wall section, riser and trim detail was assembled, faced and dressed on-site so the room handed over clean for the Paul Mitchell brand experience.
Inside the ballroom during install
Challenge
This wasn’t a booth on a show floor. It was a hotel ballroom turned into a branded environment, which meant working under hospitality-venue rules instead of convention-center rules. Plywood-frame walls, finished face panels, raised platforms and display carpentry all had to be assembled and dressed inside the ballroom itself, with our crew protecting the hotel’s carpet and finishes the whole time.
The install ran roughly 200 hours of work from initial layout to finish detail, and every step had to be sequenced around ballroom access, noise windows and the hotel’s load-in restrictions. Once the finished panels were standing, there was no room for rework.
"A ballroom is a tougher install than a show floor. You have to protect what's already there, the carpet, the walls, the chandeliers, while you're standing up a brand-new room inside it."
Site Lead, AES
Approach
Ballroom Survey & Protection Plan
We walked the ballroom with the venue ahead of move-in to map the fixed architectural features, sconces, chandelier zones and emergency egress, then laid carpet protection and corner guards before a single sheet of plywood came through the door.
Frame & Panel Pre-Sort
Plywood frames, finished face panels and trim were pre-numbered offsite and staged in load-in order, so the crew had numbered pieces in hand on the ballroom floor and nobody was sorting hardware against the clock.
Assemble, Face & Finish On-Site
Wall framing, raised platforms and built-in display carpentry went up in sequence, then got faced with finished panels and dressed with trim. Every joint, seam and finish pass happened inside the ballroom, over a multi-day install.
Final Walkthrough & Venue Handback
We walked the room with the Paul Mitchell team at the end: finished-wall alignment, trim seams, how the lighting played with the ballroom's existing fixtures, and the floor. The room handed over brand-ready, and the hotel's finishes handed back untouched.
Results
The ballroom handed over on schedule with the finished walls aligned, the platforms and display carpentry in place, and the Paul Mitchell environment fully dressed and ready for show open. The install closed out inside the agreed ballroom window, and the hotel’s finishes went back to the venue without a mark on them.
Booth Highlights
A few frames from inside the ballroom: frame-up, the finished-panel raise, and finish detail on the Paul Mitchell install.
Ballroom Wall System
Plywood-frame walls assembled and faced inside the ballroom itself, sized and finished so the space read as a real room, not a hotel with trade-show panels in it.
Display Carpentry, Installed
Shelving, riser platforms and finished trim installed and trimmed on-site to the ballroom's dimensions, so every product surface and display moment was specific to Paul Mitchell.
Hospitality-Venue Protocol
Full carpet protection, corner guards, controlled load-in lanes and noise-window sequencing, so the ballroom's carpet, paneling, sconces and fixtures went back to the hotel exactly as we found them.
