Key Insights
Open plan offices are here to stay. Architects and designers know the brief well; clients want collaborative, light-filled workspaces that feel expansive and modern. But there’s a challenge that comes with every open plan fit out: noise. It’s one that can make or break the occupant experience long after the project photos are taken.
Open Plan Offices and Metal Ceilings: Managing Noise Without Closing Space
You don’t need to carve up the floor plan with walls to get acoustic control. The right metal ceiling system can do the heavy lifting, managing reverberation, reducing speech intelligibility issues and still letting the architecture breathe.
Why Open Plan Spaces Struggle with Acoustics
Without the sound absorbing surfaces that walls and partitioned rooms naturally provide, open plan offices become echo chambers. Hard floors, glass partitions and exposed soffits only amplify the problem. Sound travels freely, conversations bleed across desks, and concentration suffers.
The ceiling plane is one of the most effective and underused tools for acoustic ceiling design. Positioned above the entire floor area, it has the surface area to make a real difference, without compromising the openness that clients are paying for.
The Case for Metal Ceiling Systems
Acoustic metal ceilings offer something traditional plasterboard can’t – performance you can specify, paired with aesthetics that actually add value to the space. SAS International, distributed in WA through Progressive Materials, has built a reputation over 50 years for delivering metal ceiling solutions that combine genuine acoustic engineering with design flexibility.
Here’s a look at the SAS products best suited to open plan office environments.
SAS 600 – Acoustic Rafts
If your client wants the exposed soffit look but needs serious sound control, acoustic raft ceilings are the answer. The SAS 600 is a suspended raft or module that hangs below the structural soffit, absorbing sound from the occupied zone below without enclosing the space.
Rafts can be specified in curved, flat, or angled profiles and are available in a full range of RAL colours and timber effects so there’s plenty of scope for design expression. Each raft comes with an 18mm mineral wool acoustic pad as standard, with options to tailor acoustic treatment to project requirements. They also integrate with lighting and building services, which makes coordination straightforward.
For open-plan offices where the brief calls for a feature ceiling, acoustic rafts deliver both the look and the performance.
SAS 500 – Linear Acoustic Baffles
The SAS 500 is a linear metal baffle ceiling suspended directly from the soffit. Baffles can run as individual modules or in continuous, unbroken lines. A look that reads well in larger open-plan floorplates.
What makes baffles particularly effective in open-plan spaces is their double faced construction, which means sound absorption from both sides of each panel. They’re also ideal where thermal mass cooling is part of the building’s passive design strategy, since air moves freely around and through the system.
Baffles can be hung at varying heights and angles for added visual interest and combined with different sizes or colours for a more bespoke result.
SAS 510 – Waveform Baffles
For projects that call for something more visually dynamic, whilst still managing noise without closing space, the SAS 510 brings all the acoustic advantages of the SAS 500 in a waveform profile. The curved shape adds depth and movement to the ceiling plane, particularly effective in large, tall open plan spaces where a standard flat ceiling would feel underwhelming.
With panel depths exceeding 500mm, the SAS 510 delivers superior acoustic performance while creating a ceiling that genuinely becomes a design feature.
SAS 200 – Metal Pan Ceiling
Where full ceiling coverage is needed, a perforated metal pan ceiling is one of the most reliable solutions for commercial acoustic control. The SAS 200 is a hook-on modular tile system with a concealed grid so you get a clean, flush ceiling plane without the visual clutter of exposed fixings.
Tiles can be specified with any standard SAS perforation pattern and come with a 16mm mineral fibre acoustic pad as standard. The concealed grid and fully demountable tiles (no access tool required) means maintenance teams can easily get in and out of the ceiling void. This is important in busy commercial fit outs with integrated services.
With a 25-year minimum product life expectancy and Cradle to Cradle Certification, it’s also a strong sustainability story to take back to the client.
SAS 150 – Metal Pan Ceiling with Hinge Down Access
The SAS 150 works on the same principle as the SAS 200 but adds a hinge-down tile mechanism, making it particularly well suited to open plan commercial fit outs where frequent access to building services is expected, or where security of the ceiling void is a consideration.
Like the SAS 200, it’s available with perforated tiles and acoustic backing pads and integrates with lighting, sprinklers and other services without compromising the ceiling’s acoustic performance.
Getting the Specification Right
Not every open plan office needs the same approach. A corporate headquarters with high end fitout expectations is a different brief to a co working space or education facility. The right metal ceiling solution depends on reverberation targets, services integration, access requirements, and the overall design intent.
The team at Progressive Materials work with architects and interior designers across WA to specify the right SAS International metal ceiling system for the project. If you’ve got an open plan fit out coming up and acoustics are on the agenda, get in touch to book a complimentary design consultation. We are the experts in Managing Noise Without Closing Space.
