T. Rowe Price Headquarters Case Study

Acoustic Design for a Waterfront Corporate Campus with Complex Program Adjacencies

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Built EnvironmentBuilt Environment

Industry

Corporate Offices

Location

Maryland

Architect

Gensler

T. Rowe Price relocated its headquarters to Harbor Point along Baltimore’s waterfront as part of a consolidation and expansion of its offices. The new campus includes two towers connected by a shared podium, totaling approximately 500,000 square feet of office, amenity, and collaboration space. Extensive glazing and waterfront-facing spaces were central to the project, allowing employees to engage with the surrounding neighborhood while maintaining a productive work environment.

The headquarters incorporates a broad mix of programs, including open offices, collaboration areas, a conference center with an auditorium, cafés, a fitness center, and specialized spaces such as recording studios and podcast suites. Trinity Consultants provided acoustical consulting services to support comfort, speech privacy, and consistency across this varied program.

Vision

The project set out to enhance the workplace experience by combining focused work environments with highly active amenity spaces that differentiate the campus. Acoustic performance was a critical factor, particularly where sensitive spaces such as the auditorium were positioned near louder uses. Maintaining a consistent acoustic experience across this headquarters and other T. Rowe Price offices was an important measure of success.

Partnership

Trinity Consultants worked in an advisory role alongside T. Rowe Price and the broader project team, building on a long-standing relationship with the client. Familiarity with T. Rowe Price’s internal design standards allowed acoustic considerations to be integrated early and efficiently as the design evolved.

As program adjacencies developed, including the decision to locate a fitness center directly beneath the conference center and auditorium, Trinity collaborated closely with Gensler and the engineering team to evaluate acoustic risk and identify viable mitigation strategies. This coordination supported design decisions that balanced space constraints, amenity priorities, and performance requirements without disrupting the overall project schedule or intent.

Services Performed

Trinity Consultants provided acoustical consulting for T. Rowe Price’s waterfront headquarters, developing strategies to support speech privacy, comfort, and consistent performance across diverse workplace and amenity spaces. The team addressed complex adjacencies through targeted sound and vibration control solutions integrated with the building design.

Value-Add

Trinity Consultants developed acoustic design strategies to address both typical workplace needs and highly specific adjacency challenges within the building. One of the most complex conditions involved isolating fitness center noise and vibration from the auditorium located directly above. The solution relied on a combination of vibration isolation and sound control measures designed to limit structure-borne transmission into surrounding spaces.

These strategies included recommendations for isolated floor and ceiling assemblies, partition construction designed to accommodate movement while maintaining separation, and coordination with architectural and building systems constrained by drainage infrastructure, mechanical spaces, and existing site conditions. The approach allowed the fitness center to occupy a prime waterfront location without introducing audible or perceptible disturbance during sensitive auditorium events.

Across the broader campus, Trinity provided acoustic consulting for open office areas, conference spaces, cafés, recording and podcast studios, a dedicated trade desk floor, breakout areas, and an upper-level “Hive” used for large company gatherings. Recommendations for sound masking supported speech privacy and comfort within open office environments. Together, these efforts helped deliver a consistent acoustic environment aligned with T. Rowe Price’s brand, workplace culture, and expectations across multiple locations.

We always prioritize future resilience. We plan for inevitable change and design infrastructure that avoids boxing ourselves into a corner so any changes will be easier and less impactful.

Peter Babigian | Trinity Consultants Built Environment
Principal, Client Development & Technology Design