Perforated Metal and Wood Ceilings - 12 Pages

Ceilings account for about a third of interior surface areas in most buildings and are often a
building’s largest and most visible interior surface. As a result, ceiling design and
specification decisions are among the most important prerogatives of design professionals.
A plethora of ceiling systems is available to contemporary designers. While each type may
have its place in the contemporary palette, it is arguable that perforated ceilings most fully
express the adventurous spirit of contemporary architecture.
Consider:
• Advances in computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) techniques make it
affordable to create ceilings of almost any size and shape, ending the aesthetic tyranny
of the 2 x 4 feet grid.
• High-speed and versatile perforating equipment allows designers to create an almost
unlimited range of visual textures and patterns.
• A new type of wood panel makes it practical to perforate wood, creating exciting new
design and performance options for wood ceilings.
• Perforated ceilings can meet the objectives of sustainable construction and are being
used in LEED certified buildings.
• New acoustical technology makes it possible to use perforated panels to satisfy the
need for improved acoustics in architectural projects.
Form-Giving Potential
Rapid advances in computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) and product engineering have
made it possible to fabricate customized perforated panels. Ceiling panels can now be
fabricated to almost any size and shape, with design information from architectural
drawings used to produce the automated fabrication instructions. This new design process
allows architects to break away from the regimentation of traditional grids by using larger
panels that better fit the scale of a room and by creating panels with radii and compound
curvatures that can flow throughout a freeform space.
Automated punches can make as many as 7,000 perforations per minute. To satisfy the
designer’s vision, each hole can be in a unique size, shape, and location. This allows panels
to be perforated with an unlimited variety of patterns and unique designs. For example,
perforations can be slots, polygons, and oblongs, as well as more traditional circles and
squares. Custom perforation patterns can create corporate logos or graphic motifs on the
ceiling, and the density of holes can vary from one end of a panel to another to create the
illusion of motion.
Perforated Metal
and Wood Ceilings:
Sustainability,
Acoustics, and
Aesthetics
Provided by Ceilings Plus
By Michael Chusid, RA, FCSI
Raising the standards for acoustical performance
and design flexibility
CONTINUING EDUCATION
Use the learning objectives below to focus
your study as you read Perforated Metal and Wood
Ceilings: Sustainability, Acoustics, and Aesthetics. To earn one
AIA/CES Learning Unit, including one hour of health safety
welfare credit, answer the questions on page 12, then follow the
reporting instructions on page 11 or go to the Continuing
Education section on www.ceilingsplus.com and follow the
reporting instructions.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this article, you should be able to:
• Recognize how advances in computer-assisted fabrication
create new options for the design of customized ceilings.
• Understand how perforated ceilings contribute toward Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) credits and environmental
considerations beyond the scope of LEED.
• Know about new hybrid wood panels using wood or bamboo veneer
on recycled aluminum cores.
• Understand how the acoustical characteristics of perforated panels
can be used to meet a variety of architectural challenges.
The planetarium in the Rose Center at the American Museum of Natural
History, New York, established a benchmark for perforated acoustical
panels. Designed by Polshek Partnership, the 87 ft. diameter sphere is
clad with pearlescent metal panels and perforated to absorb noise in the
resonant glass-box enclosure. Fabricating the precise compound
curvature of the panels was only possible with recent advances in
computer-assisted manufacturing.
Photo Courtesy: Ceilings Plus
Perforated Metal and Wood Ceilings: Sustainability, Acoustics, and Aesthetics 1
Reprinted from Architectural Record, December 2005

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2Perforated Metal and Wood Ceilings: Sustainability, Acoustics, and AestheticsThe same machinery that punches the perforations can also be used to create...
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Perforated Metal and Wood Ceilings: Sustainability, Acoustics, and Aesthetics 3adhesives and a substrate pretreatment that changes the molecular texture...
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4Perforated Metal and Wood Ceilings: Sustainability, Acoustics, and Aestheticscredit if raw materials areextracted or the place offinal manufacturing iswithin...
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5Perforated Metal and Wood Ceilings: Sustainability, Acoustics, and AestheticsMinimum IAQ Performance and Ventilation Effectiveness (LEED Prerequisite...
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6 Perforated Metal and Wood Ceilings: Sustainability, Acoustics, and AestheticsPenn State Building Uses Unique Panel SystemPenn State University’s...
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