Acoustic performance and interior design have not always made easy partners. For much of commercial fit out history, acoustic performance often outweighed aesthetics—foam wedges, fibreglass batts behind fabric frames, and mineral fibre tiles in utilitarian grids. The idea that a product could absorb sound well and look like it belonged in a considered interior was, for a…
Steel framing and ceiling systems are rarely the most discussed elements of a commercial fit-out. They sit behind the finishes, inside the ceiling void, underneath the plasterboard. But they are also what determines whether a partition reaches its fire rating, whether a ceiling holds under services loads, whether a high wall stays straight over time, and whether…
In a medical fit out, ceiling systems are a key part of the building’s clinical infrastructure. They influence infection control outcomes, air quality performance, acoustic privacy, and the day-to-day operability of the space. For architects, specifiers, and project managers working in healthcare, ceiling selection is a risk-management decision as much as a design one. The…
Ceilings By Design now supplies Armstrong DataWorks DataStruct: a next-generation heavy-duty ceiling grid system engineered specifically for data centre environments. As data centres continue to push density, load, and performance limits, traditional ceiling grid systems are no longer fit for purpose. Standard commercial grids were never designed to carry extreme point loads, support dense service…
Commercial insulation is critical. Acoustic comfort impacts productivity and wellbeing. Thermal insulation performance impacts energy efficiency and running costs. Yet across Australia, plenty of projects are set up incorrectly from day one, because insulation is either overspecified (wasted money, overengineering) or underspecified (non-compliance, acoustic issues, thermal inefficiencies). For architects and specifiers, this creates a challenging…