Getting Ceiling Heights Right
They’re often forgotten completely, but ceiling heights are an important part of the design of your new home. Designer Pete Tonks explains why
Designer Pete Tonks explains why this overlooked design element could make all the difference in your new home
o, your sion you project, new are home, in and a position or you remodel/exten- feel to you design have everything covered. You’re perhaps working on the design, you might have chosen bricks and tiles, you may have even picked your kitchen and bathrooms, and you are good to go, right? But what about the basic shape and form of the building and the spaces contained within? Generally, when I am designing for clients, we get into fairly lengthy dialogue about the size and number of rooms and how those spaces interconnect with one another. In other words, people tend to visual things in 2D and work out how practical the layouts can be. The third dimension, height, is often not even on the radar during the early design stages but it absolutely should be as it is quite possibly one of the most important elements. However, a building project offers the opportunity to do something a little different when it comes to ceiling heights. Unfortunately, most of our experiences of architecture and layout at residential level will have been shaped by mass-built developer homes, which work on the most basic of control ents’ been turing — Edwardian second There parameters most homes fairly the half — are, notably or average mainstream and of which from of the for Victorian course, 19th our housing 8ft obvious may ceiling parents’ century, have and exceptions eras. stock reasons (2.4m). practical, also or the During grandpar- from generally Victori- of to cost fea- this the the ans boom. to prints; build were This ceilings more faced put houses with were pressure a staggering but subsequently with on housebuilders smaller population pushed footupwards The have Edwardians, made to a give point the of by having impression contrast, higher seemed of ceilings space. to to This make article a statement takes the of one’s opportunity wealth. to look beyond the regular approach of ‘standard’ ceiling heights and how you can maximise your space, and at the same time, enhance the overall experience. The 2.4m ceiling height has crept in over the years as it works to the coursing principles of brickwork (75mm on average: 65mm brick plus 10mm joint) and you will find that most sheet material used in construction, whether that be plywood, plasterboard,
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MDF, egger board and so on, all come in 8ft x 4ft (2,440mm x 1,220mm) sheets. It therefore makes complete logical sense to set everything to align with these dimensions. However, when you have the opportunity to do your own thing, you don’t really want to conform to the norm. So very often, one will see storey heights which are beyond the 2.4m standard. The There raising extra Implications plasterboard, are storey obvious heights, cost and of such implications Adding blocks as and the Height cost bricks, when of and ing timber if you are frame constructing or steel frame, your project your studs uswill need to be longer. Because they are longer, the section sizes may also need to increase, all of which will bump the budget upwards — not necessarily beyond your budget, but in the grand scheme of things, I would suggest that in the most part, the additional construction costs compared to the spatial gible higher performance There and ceilings impact are well some attributes worth would when great the it be comes of benefits extra considered a building, investment. to in the having negli- basic particularly Higher ceilings in terms provide of space, the opportunity heat and light. for windows to be placed above head height, such as clerestory windows. And because they are higher up, they will generally be subject to a less interrupted air flow than if they were down at ‘normal’ level. This allows external fresh air to flow into a building and circulate in a larger space in a downward circular motion. The larger the space, the better the flow, and height is a key performance element to this concept. Likewise, if well insulated, a room with high ceilings can still remain at a comfortable level but you should expect to pay more to heat the space purely from a volume perspective. Again, you would need to weigh up the pros and cons and assess how im-
“Recent studies have proven that rooms with higher ceilings invoke a feeling of freedom and exploration”
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