The beauty of monolithic ceilings

Smooth elegance, timelessness, purity. A small list of equivalents that spring to mind when looking at the strictly monolithic ceiling. Good acoustics, fire resistance, and functionality must logically follow.

Free Design

Monolithic ceiling systems offer you the opportunity to design ceilings without visible and distracting joints. The continuous and elegant surface can play a key role in expressing the identity of a space, while also providing you with complete freedom in design. From standard flat ceilings to wavy or curved ones. From white surfaces to colored ones.

Another advantage of monolithic ceilings is their universal application. Timelessness and flexibility can be utilized in both the construction of new modern buildings and in the restoration of historical structures. They find application in offices, atriums, government buildings, or sacred edifices. They can be used as a classic joint-free ceiling or as suspended ceiling absorbers (islands). Of course, aesthetic integration of lighting systems, air conditioning, ventilation, or inspection openings is standard.

Let us look together at two examples of joint-free ceilings, realized using ROCKFON System Mono® Acoustic. For use in modern concepts and historical contexts.

Astrup Fearnley Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art

Astrup Fearnley Museet

The Astrup Fearnley Museum of Contemporary Art was designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop based in Genoa. This complex consists of a museum, office buildings, a park, a beach, and a harbor promenade. Above the buildings clad in aspen wood, you can see a common glass roof with overhangs, inspired by the sails of ships moored in the local harbor.

When creating art galleries in the museum, the design team wanted to create a monolithic ceiling with the same geometry as the roof. “We wanted a ceiling that would be neutral yet robust - neutral so it wouldn't overshadow the exhibited works and robust to reflect the uniqueness of the roof.” The ceiling also had to meet a long list of acoustic and technical requirements. “The quality of the Mono Acoustic ceiling system allowed us to meet both technical and architectural demands. If you look up, you will see wooden beams. The ceiling then expands between them in space with the same double curvature as we see in the roof.”

Comédie-Française – The Perfect Theatre

Comedie Francaise

Comédie-Française is one of five theaters in France that has the status of a National Theatre and is home to the French national theater company.
The royal gem is Salle Richelieu, an auditorium in the Italian style, considered one of the most perfect in the world. In 2013, modernization and renovation of the dome directly above Salle Richelieu took place, which housed all the HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) equipment.

The architects proposed to rearrange the HVAC systems, transforming the dome into a usable space. “By rearranging the technical systems, we gained almost half of the dome's area for our purposes. In addition, a beautiful wrought iron structure was revealed, which we simply had to leave,” explains Stéphane Delaby, architect from B&A Studio of Architecture. “To allow the Comédie-Française troupe to make the best use of the newly acquired spaces, a monolithic ROCKFON ceiling was installed in the dome space between the metal structure. The dome is now a magnificent and simultaneously functional space, completely acoustically isolated from the theater below.”

More information at www.rockfon.cz