Armstrong Ceilings – Filling Your Needs for Every Space
From offices and education to healthcare and hospitality, and everything in between, Armstrong has a ceiling that impacts your space. Regardless of the application, your ceiling will play a key role in not only the visual aspect of your building, but in the way sound and light move through your space.
Offices and Workspaces
Now more than ever, the need to keep personal and business information private from people in adjacent spaces is very important. Hospitals, doctor’s offices, and spaces where human resource, financial, or legal discussions take place are just a few of the environments where sensitivity around privacy is heightened. Ceilings, often the largest uninterrupted surface in a space, can help incorporate acoustical building materials. Armstrong’s Total Acoustics® sound control ceiling panels feature the ideal combination of modern looks with sound blocking and sound absorption, making for an excellent solution. Light (and the how light reflects into a space) are also key factors to consider. Armstrong ceiling panels come in a multitude of sizes and materials to aid in the light distribution of a space. Total Acoustics® ceiling systems with PrivAssure™ panels (available through our open market purchasing) provide high sound blocking. When paired with sound blocking walls of equal performance, the combination helps create balanced acoustical design for confidentiality. This is especially important in applications with partial-height, demountable, or full-height walls with unsealed penetrations.
Healthcare and Healing Spaces
Among all types of commercial buildings, hospitals are unique because they must operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As a result, the interiors must meet the demands of the space by reducing energy, providing high performance, sustainable materials, that are durable and flexible. Spaces in healthcare facilities are unique, each requiring something different from a ceiling. Hospitals are inherently noisy for two primary reasons. First is the plethora of noise sources, ranging from paging systems and patient monitoring equipment to staff conversations and the clamor of visitors. Second, walls, floors, and ceilings tend to be hard surfaces that are designed for durability and cleanliness, but which also create excessive reverberation in a space. Consequently, they are more sound reflecting than sound absorbing. Moreover, hospital noise levels have been rising since the 1960s. And, high noise levels in hospitals have implications for patient and staff health and well-being.
Quieter spaces reduce stress, reduce medical errors, reduce vocal fatigue and improve sleep quality and the patient experience. According to Armstrong, “the abundant research compiled over recent years shows the dramatic impact of noise and inadequate privacy in the healthcare environment. As a result, the importance of good acoustics in the design, construction, and operation of healthcare facilities continues to grow. The reason: proper acoustical design has been shown to improve patient sleep, increase patient satisfaction, increase patient confidentiality, improve the healing environment, reduce staff stress, and improve speech intelligibility among staff members.”
Ceilings with Total Acoustics® performance provide the ideal combination of absorption and blocking in one ceiling system and the Ultima Health Zone line of acoustics features water-repellant, high performance, fine-textured options. It is available in wood finishes of bamboo, light cherry, barnwood, oak, and walnut. An array of classic colors are also available, and it’s also possible to create unique, custom ceiling visuals using non-standard colors and custom artwork. Ultima Health Zone can also be mixed and matched with standard Ultima and Optima products.
Education Environments
Armstrong’s educational line of ceiling products indicates that, “Teachers can’t teach and students can’t learn in a noisy classroom full of distractions. Interference with the ability to hear increases stress, decreases concentration, and interferes with learning. Proper classroom acoustics are extremely important for younger children, students with learning disabilities, the hearing impaired, and English as a second language students. And let’s not forget teachers; teacher surveys consistently rank noisy classrooms and vocal fatigue high on their list of frustrations. On any given school day, thousands of students across the country are unable to understand 25 to 30 percent of what’s said in their classroom.”
Acoustic ceilings can completely change the dynamic of the classroom experience. Armstrong offers a portfolio of ceilings that can substantially improve classroom acoustical design. School Zone®, Ultima®, Cirrus® and Optima® Create!™ ceilings are all good choices, but always ask your Continental Flooring representative for more specifics to fit your needs.
Airports
Concourses and corridors in airports can be extremely high traffic areas filled with footsteps ad hectic chatter. By choosing the right ceiling designed for durability and sound control, the sound impact in a terminal can be greatly affected. Transportation concourses are hubs of activity, and present unique design challenges when it comes to controlling noise, and offering access to mechanical systems. Armstrong offers a diverse portfolio of MetalWorks ceiling and custom metal wall products for the transportation segment, including interior and exterior options for light rail transit applications. Metal ceilings are available in a variety of standard and custom perforations to get the calming atmosphere passengers want and the durability needed for the space. Armstrong also offers a diverse range of options you can turn to for your exposed structure projects – from canopies & clouds to baffles and blades, along with custom specialty options like metal and wood.
The Armstrong portfolio of commercial acoustical ceilings offers solutions in mineral fiber, fiberglass, perforated metal, and perforated wood. Bright whites, bold colors, cool metals, and warm woods give you the design flexibility and acoustical performance you need for your commercial interior. Ask your Continental Flooring representative about available Armstrong products. You may also purchase an array of additional open market Armstrong Ceiling items if what you need isn’t on our contract and we are happy to facilitate that purchase for you. GSA Buyers may wish to register online to view GSA pricing. This feature allows buyers quick, up-to-date access to 17 different GSA contracted manufacturers. Please feel free to call us for product advice, free samples, assistance in specifications, or to place an order. One call does it all!
