Creating unique designs with metal panels can go beyond the exterior wall and roofs. Inside, ceilings offer designers a place to create durable, low-maintenance and sustainable designs that meet performance requirements. With a wide range of options, metal ceiling tiles provide flexibility for design. Available in a variety of metals and finishes, metal ceiling tiles can come in all shapes and sizes from classic planks and tiles to custom curved beams, as well as perforations and more.
From signature spaces to bringing the outdoors in, metal ceilings offer an array of design options
Rockfon’s Planar linear exterior metal ceilings are featured on a high-technology company’s courtyard. (Photo: Tim Griffith)
Signature Spaces
Using metal ceilings to design signature spaces can create immediate impact. From airport lounges to hotel lobbies, Rick Loufek, director of MetalWorks at Armstrong Ceiling & Wall Solutions, Lancaster, Pa., says designers want to create spectacular one-of-a-kind statements. “Instagram-worthy design is here to stay,” he adds.
Unique and distinctive statements can happen anywhere from offices to hospitals. As Michael Thill, product manager–metal ceilings at Chicago-based Rockfon, shares, offices are a huge are where owners are enhancing the design of the space to create an area that employees will want to come to work and feel good.
Since designers are looking to create an entire experience throughout a facility, lobbies provide a great area to make a statement and present a welcoming environment. “Metal ceilings can enhance these spaces, allowing owners and designers to define a unique atmosphere for every area,” Thill says.
But lobby ceilings aren’t limited to offices, with creative designs being found in educational facilities, hospitality venues, shopping centers and other spaces that want to welcome people visiting. For example, “Hospitals must create a welcoming, calming and peaceful feeling upon arrival,” Thill says. “Metal ceilings with wood-look finishes create warm natural tones. Acoustical improvement with perforating the metal and adding an acoustical backer can increase sound absorption, making these panels ideal for a healing environment.”
The warmth of wood is showcased on durable metal panels from Armstrong Ceiling & Wall Solutions.
Custom Designs
As designers expand upon the places in which metal ceilings are being used to create signature spaces, so does the desire for custom ceiling panels. “There is a larger desire now for more ceilings in custom shapes, sizes, colors, perforation patterns, etc.,” Thill says, “as owners are more driven to create statement areas that will attract employees, customers and visitors.”
Perforated panels with backlighting offer creative and customizable opportunities, Loufek says. And while he sees that trend lasting awhile, he notes there are a lot of exciting new offerings with laser-cut metal ceilings and walls that impact any special environment and provide a durable design solution.
The size of a space determines the size and scale of the metal ceilings tiles. As Thill explains, “Bigger entrance areas can require larger or longer ceiling panels to match the space and scale. Linear metal ceilings have always been used to span exterior to interior spaces, offering visual continuity from the moment you arrive. As outdoor spaces continue to be incorporated into the total building experience, we will see these transitional applications used even more.”
Metal beams and baffle ceilings have been a popular way to maintain an open structure while improving aesthetics, and Thill notes beams and baffles are now available with deeper and wider profiles to help define areas further within a space. “In addition, design options have advanced from traditional rectangular shapes to curved and circular baffle profiles,” he says.
“To create more custom designs, shapes and design flexibility,” Thill continues, “lay-in metal ceilings panels can create different depths and dimensions. In addition to previously available 3-D panels, there are sloped and diagonal options available. Additionally, metal torsion spring-based systems are being produced in 3-D geometric shapes, such as triangles or radial panels, allowing complex patterns.”
Rockfon’s linear metal ceilings create a natural, wood-look appearance with a Honey Oak finish in York Region Municipality’s new LEED Gold-certified Administrative Centre Annex’s atrium stairwell. (Photo: Tom Arban Photography Inc.)
Biophilic Designs
With more attention than ever being paid to indoor environmental quality, there are many discussions around optimizing acoustics and supporting healthy indoor air quality. Thill notes that a growing design trend for metal ceilings is biophilic-based designs that bring the outside in.
This trend of bringing the outdoors inside, Loufek adds, is driving the need for more wood-look finishes on metal ceiling products. As the industry is craving more biophilic design elements, he says wood-looks on metal will continue to be desirable and will expand beyond ceilings into wall coverings and even column covers.
“Human beings have an affinity for natural materials as we are so familiar with these in our everyday life,” Thill explains. “Studies have shown that the warm, natural tones of wood specifically cause lower blood pressure, stress reduction and actual improved moods, making wood tones an ideal design choice for occupants within hospitals, schools and offices. Metal finished with a wood-look will continue to grow in popularity with an ever-expanding portfolio of grains and color options. Advancements in such technology as dye sublimation, laminates and coil coatings allow metal to simulate wood species and grain patterns, with nearly limitless product customization capabilities.”
Interior spaces also lend themselves to being designed with geometric shapes such as squares, triangles and trapezoids. “The ability to create designs with these shapes that range from minimalistic to complex patterns to even three-dimensional can accommodate a variety of design visions,” Thill says. “With clients often looking for something different, metal ceilings are also highly customizable. They can create unique shapes and spaces to enhance both the interior and exterior space and make them an ideal fit for these trends.”
A technology that has grown in recent years is integrated lighting. Thill notes this is in response to studies showing measurable physiological and productivity benefits to proper lighting. “New shapes, sizes and designs in lighting can be accommodated into metal ceiling systems and be manufactured and formed in such a way to accommodate specific lighting models.”
Travel in style with custom perforations on metal from Armstrong Ceiling & Wall Solutions.
Acoustics
The acoustics in a room is an essential consideration for designers. No one wants to be in a room where the noise bounces around and reverberates. And as Thill explains, the design and feel of a space has become critical for supporting in-person interactions as comfortable, productive, enjoyable experiences. “Acoustical benefits are always paramount, especially given the value of peaceful workplaces in our post-pandemic society,” adds Loufek. “Having acoustical benefits combined with robust metal systems is a win on all fronts.”
“While metal is generally a reflective surface, perforations can be added along with an acoustical sound-absorbent backing,” says Thill. “Recent advancements in perforating technology allow some manufacturers to deliver custom perforation patterns, which gives architects the ability to add design elements with acoustics. These perforations can range from circular holes with large diameters in uniform patterns to long, weaving patterns that span multiple panels with a variety of perforation sizes.”