Coatings and interior systems

Acoustic & Specialty Interior Surfaces

Two different jobs are constantly confused in this category. Absorption softens the reverberation inside a room; insulation reduces the sound passing between spaces. A panel that helps with one may do nothing at all for the other, and saying so plainly is the most useful thing these pages can do.

These entries describe what each system or surface is and how it is built. They state no acoustic performance of any kind — no figures, no classes, no claim that anything is soundproof — because acoustic behaviour is a property of the complete tested assembly and the room, and belongs with a qualified acoustic professional. No fire rating appears either.

17 reference entries · educational materials reference · suitability always depends on the complete assembly and qualified professional review

Scope

What this category covers

Where the boundary of this part of the library sits, including what it deliberately leaves to qualified professionals.

Suspended ceiling systems, tiles and the grids that carry them
Absorbent and isolating linings, baffles and specialist acoustic finishes
Specialty interior facings including glass, enamelled and perforated metal panels
Not covered: acoustic performance figures or classes, fire ratings, or room acoustic design

Start here

Frequently referenced entries

A starting point, not a ranking — these are simply the entries most people arrive looking for.

Ceiling Grid →The hanger, main runner, cross tee and perimeter trim assembly that carries a demountable ceiling, chosen on module, load allowance and edge detail rather than on tile appearance.Mineral Ceiling Tile →Pressed mineral fibre modules that lay into or hook onto a suspension grid, selected on edge profile, face texture and demountability rather than fixed permanently like a wall absorber.Baffles and Rafts →Free hanging vertical fins and horizontal islands suspended below a soffit, deliberately covering only part of the ceiling plane so services above stay visible and reachable.

All entries

Every acoustic & specialty entry

The complete set for this category, in reference order.

Entry describes

Role in an assembly

Part of a building

Ceiling Grid →The hanger, main runner, cross tee and perimeter trim assembly that carries a demountable ceiling, chosen on module, load allowance and edge detail rather than on tile appearance.

Mineral Ceiling Tile →Pressed mineral fibre modules that lay into or hook onto a suspension grid, selected on edge profile, face texture and demountability rather than fixed permanently like a wall absorber.

Metal Ceiling Tile →Formed steel or aluminium ceiling trays, planks and open cell panels, usually perforated and relying on a separate backing pad rather than on the metal itself to absorb sound.

Perforated Board →Gypsum boards factory punched or slotted to a set pattern and backed with a bonded fleece, jointed so that the pattern reads continuously across a wall or ceiling plane.

Acoustic Plaster →A porous granulate coating applied over an absorbent backing board to give a continuous wall or ceiling face with no visible joint, module or perforation pattern.

Wood Wool Board →Panels of long shredded wood strands loosely bound in cement, whose open textured face serves as both the visible finish and the sound absorbing surface of the room.

Baffles and Rafts →Free hanging vertical fins and horizontal islands suspended below a soffit, deliberately covering only part of the ceiling plane so services above stay visible and reachable.

Mass Loaded Vinyl →A dense, limp filled polymer sheet installed as a concealed layer within a wall, floor or ceiling build-up to add mass against sound transmission between spaces.

Resilient Bar →Springy formed metal sections fixed on one flange only, holding a lining board away from the frame behind so the board is decoupled rather than rigidly attached to the structure.

Stretch Ceiling →A thin PVC or polymer sheet tensioned into a perimeter track to form a seamless ceiling face, made in matt, lacquered, translucent and micro-perforated grades.

Perforated Metal →Single sheets of steel, aluminium or brass punched with a repeating hole pattern, used as screens, semi-open dividers and facings over absorbent material behind.

Enamelled Steel Panel →Steel sheet finished with glass frit fused to the surface in a furnace, producing a hard ceramic face used for writable walls, lining panels and transport interiors.

Back Painted Glass →Made-to-measure glass panels with an opaque coating cured onto the rear face, giving a jointless coloured surface for splashbacks, wall linings and cabinet fronts.

PET Felt Panel →Self-supporting boards moulded from thermally bonded polyester fibre, cut and formed into wall tiles, hanging baffles, desk screens and the backing for slatted timber panels.

Sound Diffuser Panel →Hard shaped panels of wells, fins or curved profiles that scatter a reflection back into the room in many directions instead of absorbing it, used in rooms built for listening.

Operable Folding Wall →Panel systems hung from an overhead track so a room can be divided or opened by its users daily, stacking into a pocket or against a wall when the space is left open.

Radiation Shielding Board →Factory-made composite boards with bonded lead foil or a barium-loaded core, lined into imaging and radiography rooms where a shielding layer must run continuously behind the finish.

Browse by role

By the role the material plays

The same entries, clustered by what they typically do in an assembly. A material can appear in more than one cluster because it genuinely plays more than one role.

Substrate and base

Backgrounds and bases that other materials are fixed or applied to.

Internal surface

The visible inner face people see, touch and walk on.

Jointing and fixing

Materials that bond, seal, support or connect other materials.

Where they appear

Parts of a building this category touches

An orientation aid only — it does not imply that any entry is suitable for that part of a particular building.

Internal walls and ceilings · 17
Floors · 2
Wet areas · 2

Elsewhere on Build Design Hub

Planning guidance for this subject

This library explains what materials are. These sections help with choosing between them and preparing for the conversation.

Wall and surface finish guides →The choosing-and-planning side of interior surfaces.Interior design ideas →Design directions for ceilings and interior surfaces.Material and finish decisions →Preparation before a surfaces conversation.

Building Systems Encyclopedia

The assemblies these materials sit in

A material page explains what a substance is. These pages explain how the assembly around it is organised, what roles its components perform and which interfaces matter.

Interior assembliesAcoustic Separation Systems →Assemblies defined by the transmission path each is built to defeat — airborne, impact, flanking or over the head of a partition — rather than by what they are made of.Interior assembliesInternal Partitions, Linings, Ceilings and Wet Areas →Internal elements whose behaviour comes from the framework, the void and the perimeter behind them rather than from the board or tile on the visible face.

Materials & Systems Encyclopedia

Reference entries for building materials, product formats and system components — what they are, what their behaviour depends on and what to ask about them.

Browse the full Materials Library →

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