John Spicer and Graham Taylor talk to AT about Sonify from Zentia Architecture Today Podcasts

Listen to the Ask the Expert podcast, in partnership with Zentia, exploring the design of discontinuous ceiling systems and specifically Sonify, a brand new product that the company is bringing to market.

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Ceilings can often make or break commercial and public building interiors, both in terms of appearance and functionality. Discontinuous ceiling systems are seen by many as the preferred solution for their ability to combine high levels of performance with good aesthetics. But what exactly are discontinuous ceilings? How do they work? And what is behind the latest system to come to market: Sonify by Zentia. These questions and more were explored in the first of three Ask the Expert podcasts on ceiling design with Zentia’s John Spicer, Head of New Product Development, and Graham Taylor, Director of Sales and Marketing, in conversation with AT’s Technical Editor John Ramshaw.

What are discontinuous ceilings and when and where are they used?

JS As the name suggests, it’s a ceiling that is not continuous. Traditionally, we would describe a suspended ceiling as a wall-to-wall solution – a continuous membrane dividing the plenum (the air space behind the ceiling) and the ceiling soffit from the useable space below. A discontinuous ceiling eschews this approach in favour of a series of individual elements, including rafts, canopies, baffles. Discontinuous ceilings are specified for a number of reasons, including ‘activating’ the concrete soffit for thermal mass, and as part of a general trend away from suspended ceilings. They are used on a wide range of projects, from offices to education and hospitality spaces.

What are the main challenges for architects when it comes to specifying discontinuous ceilings?

JS Unlike continuous ceilings, where services are located where needed and then simply dropped into ceiling tiles, on open-soffit or discontinuous ceilings these elements have to be carefully planned or zoned, because there maybe large areas where there is no ceiling treatment at all. Secondly, the visual appearance of the soffit and the exposed servicing might have to be upgraded as these elements are usually hidden from view.

Could you tell us why Sonify was developed and how it differs from traditional discontinuous ceiling systems?

GT Zentia has evolved from Armstrong Ceiling Solutions, and while we retained many of the standard products that specifiers will be familiar with, we also recognised that there was a gap in our product offering for something that could allow architects to be creative and put their own personal stamp on ceiling design. Sonify also responds to the growing trend towards discontinuous ceiling options and the specific needs of clients, specifiers, designers, acousticians and installers in this respect.

Sonify is designed to give specifiers a high degree of design creativity and flexibility using a kit-of-parts approach

JS At the moment discontinuous ceilings tend to be single elements, such as canopies or baffles, that are hung either individually or dotted about.