The Hunter Douglas range of suspended ceilings provide endless opportunities
Suspended ceilings often referred to as ‘dropped ceilings’ or ‘false ceilings’ have been commonly used in many different building types for years. Typical buildings that use suspended ceilings are; offices, hospitals, schools, retail units and industrial units.
A suspended ceiling is hung from the main structural ceiling and are often used to conceal mechanical and electrical services within the ceiling void. These ceilings offer many benefits including a low life cycle cost and an extra margin of fire safety. They also allow you to easily integrate light within the ceiling. They also provide a clean, smooth finish to the internal ceiling of a room, whilst hiding electrical wires, pipework and other services.
Sixty years ago, Hunter Douglas pioneered suspended metal ceilings and have been leaders in this market ever since. Their product ranges boast many of the core fundamentals which make suspended ceilings the desired specification on modern projects. These include:
Enhanced Acoustic Performance
The acoustic comfort in an office space, school or public building contributes to occupant well-being. Poor acoustic performance can affect health, communication, safety and productivity. Suspended ceilings can act as an effective sound barrier between floors, or with the use of sound absorbing tiles, can work very effectively at improving the general acoustics of a room. The Hunter Douglas range of suspended metal ceilings includes a variety of different acoustic performance levels. Perforated panels offer enhanced acoustics, which can be substantially improved with the addition of special acoustic pads.
Insulating Properties
Simply installing a suspended ceiling, whereby the ceiling height within a room is reduced, will act as an effective means to ‘trap’ the warmer air within the room and reduce it being lost into the top of the ceiling.
Light Quality
The quality of light in a room contributes greatly to its look and feel. Poor lighting in any room can lead to eye strain, fatigue and headaches which will in turn reduce productivity and comfort. Suspended ceilings with a high light reflectance can return up to 90% of the light back into the space, compared to around 75% for standard ceilings.
Fire Protection in Metal ceilings
Suspended ceilings are designed to give a period of fire resistance, but in order to confirm this period of resistance, a fire test certificate is required. In official fire tests at Efectis, Bleiswijk and CSI, Bollate, Milan (both independent fire research institutes). All Hunter Douglas metal ceiling systems earned a high reaction to fire classification according to EN 13501-1.
Unlimited Design Possilities
Hunter Douglas design and manufacturing expertise provides architects and designers with the flexibility of unlimited design possibilities. The flexibility in styles and designs of a suspended ceiling allows customers to choose from a wide variety of finishes. Hunter Douglas suspended ceiling designs can be specified in a range of materials, shapes and curves. Here are some of the product options available:
Hunter Douglas metal curved ceilings are ideal for projects where designers are looking to create arches and multilevel designs. They can be manufactured from panels up to six metres in length to help the definition of areas both large and small. They are available in a variety of colours, finishes and curve options.
Hunter Douglas interior metal open ceilings provide the architect with a variety of design opportunities to create an open and spacious feel. Our open ceilings are designed to give the illusion of additional space, while adding aesthetic interest to the area.
With linear spaced objects in the ceiling, the Sedes™ Baffles Series offers a lightweight aluminium baffle solution for interior commercial spaces. Baffles ceilings are contemporary, flexible and easy to install.
Linear wood ceilings are the only building material that is completely CO2 neutral and totally recyclable. Linear Ceilings can also be optimised in dimension and shape to suit specific project requirements.
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Baffle ceilings are ideal for mitigating noise pollution and reverberating sound in most building sectors, and are used to improve the acoustics in concert halls, theatres, conference rooms and other spaces where good sound quality is important. The felt material turns every ceiling into a visual and acoustic playground.
HeartFelt® Origami offers not only a unique aesthetic finish but also delivers outstanding acoustic performance. The combination of the material and shape of the origami folded panels gives every space a very distinctive look and feel.
To find out more about Hunter Douglas' Suspended Ceilings click here.
