Ceiling height for open-plan room

[Dreadnaught]

My new build will have a large-ish open-plan room and I am wondering what ceiling height would be best.

 

Its a perfectly rectangular room, 9515mm by 5174mm to contain, in a row: kitchen, dining table, sitting area. Its a modern bungalow and the roof above is flat. One unusual feature is that there is only a single external window in this big room, high on one of the short sides above the kitchen units. To compensate there will be at least two large roof-lights (each 2400 mm x 900 mm, flat glass), possibly three. Its a passive house so the roof will be thick (about 550mm).

 

What ceiling height will give an airy feeling with a sense of good proportion and no sense of claustrophobia?

• The minimum of 2100 mm would feel too low, I think
• What about 2400 mm?
• What about 3000 mm?
• I had originally even contemplated 3600 mm but it looks like that will make the ridge height too high, so I will not get approval

Advice appreciated.

 

 

 

Edited August 5, 2018 by Dreadnaught

[ProDave]

That is only a little bigger than our kitchen / living room and we have a ceiling height of 2420mm  That extra 20mm means you don't have to trim any of the plasterboard when sheeting the walls.  This room feels perfectly normal to us.

 

However I don't see a 3M ceiling would be too high either. We have one bedroom with a 3M ceiling  and it does not look silly.

[PeterW]

How about a stepped ceiling ..? Higher in the middle where the roof lights are ..?

[Dreadnaught]

6 minutes ago, PeterW said:

How about a stepped ceiling ..? Higher in the middle where the roof lights are ..?

 

Yes, that is an interesting idea. I hadn't thought of that.

[ultramods]

In terms of aesthetics I would say 2700+, the higher the better (within reason). 

[PeterW]

Would make the lower areas where sofas are etc more “cosy” and then make the roof light areas more open. 

[Tennentslager]

Take an Airbnb to Glasgow and experience a tennement with high ceilings...you won't be disappointed.

They do come with massive knee to ceiling windows normally...3 plus m normally...my son has one, I love em

[Vijay]

2 hours ago, ProDave said:

That is only a little bigger than our kitchen / living room and we have a ceiling height of 2420mm  That extra 20mm means you don't have to trim any of the plasterboard when sheeting the walls.  This room feels perfectly normal to us.

 

However I don't see a 3M ceiling would be too high either. We have one bedroom with a 3M ceiling  and it does not look silly.

 

I don't get the extra 20mm, isn't a sheet 2400? Or is it taking the ceiling plasterboard into account????

[caliwag]

Indeed, it's a golden opportunity to create some drama and cosiness as PeterW says. Perhaps a pyramid (reverse) in a suitable spot (determined with your model-making skills. I do feel that there appear to be lost opportunities in homes that appear to 'happen' as opposed to being designed with vast living spaces/kitchen/dining areas with 2.3m ceiling heights. It's a 3D exercise...have fun. Design (and insist with the plasterer) that you get crisp edges to your reverse pyramid. 

[PeterW]

1 hour ago, Vijay said:

 

I don't get the extra 20mm, isn't a sheet 2400? Or is it taking the ceiling plasterboard into account????

 

9/12mm for the ceiling board and 8/11mm at the floor so the spreads aren’t picking crap up off the floor and any spills don’t wick into the boards. 

[ProDave]

1 hour ago, Vijay said:

 

I don't get the extra 20mm, isn't a sheet 2400? Or is it taking the ceiling plasterboard into account????

The point is to avoid having to trim anything from the wall boards. The finished height is 2420 so the wall boards stop 20mm above the finished floor and the gap will be covered by the skirting. The exact measure is unimportant as long as there is a small gap that will get covered.

 

The last thing you want is 2400 before you sheet the ceiling, then you will be trimming a slither from each board and cursing.

[Onoff]

My bathroom ceiling height is 2470 from concrete to u/side of pb ceiling. No skirting. 

 

Meant I had to get 2700mm high specially ordered in from TP. Lot of waste. With hindsight etc!

[lizzie]

@Dreadnaught you have the opportunity to do something really good with that ceiling. I would think not just about basic height, I would consider how the roof lights will factor, there will be slight chimney effect in 550 deep roof.

 

For the finished look with one open plan living area and no wall windows to consider you could almost consider zoning from the ceiling rather than the floor.  Some dropped ceiling areas,  some fab lighting effects.......lots to think about. Pinterest perhaps.

 

Think about your finished look and work back from there....height is but one factor in my opinion, its what you do with the height/space that makes or breaks......too high and just flat ceiling could be cavernous and echo,  too low and just flat ceiling could be stifling and feel like the room is on top of you.....

 and dont forget a decent service void for the lights..mine needed 70 and we only had provision for 50 so had to do last minute adjustments.

[le-cerveau]

5 minutes ago, lizzie said:

 and dont forget a decent service void for the lights.

I had a 150mm service void all across the ground floor, that increased to 250mm in areas of lowered ceiling, features to break up the large kitchen/living/dining, room.  This provided  space for MVHR, cables......

Lighting I put LED ribbons (my electrician) around the dropped parts to provide lighting with some spots.  The LED ribbons work very well.

[Carrerahill]

16 hours ago, Dreadnaught said:

My new build will have a large-ish open-plan room and I am wondering what ceiling height would be best.

 

Its a perfectly rectangular room, 9515mm by 5174mm to contain, in a row: kitchen, dining table, sitting area. Its a modern bungalow and the roof above is flat. One unusual feature is that there is only a single external window in this big room, high on one of the short sides above the kitchen units. To compensate there will be at least two large roof-lights (each 2400 mm x 900 mm, flat glass), possibly three. Its a passive house so the roof will be thick (about 550mm).

 

What ceiling height will give an airy feeling with a sense of good proportion and no sense of claustrophobia?

• The minimum of 2100 mm would feel too low, I think
• What about 2400 mm?
• What about 3000 mm?
• I had originally even contemplated 3600 mm but it looks like that will make the ridge height too high, so I will not get approval

Advice appreciated.

 

 

 

2100 & 2400 are too low, in a room like that it will feel more like an attic conversion or something. I think 3000 would be your bare minimum, however I would still push for higher, even another 250mm would be good. 

[Mr Punter]

I think 2700 to 3000 if you have the height.  I prefer boarded ceiling first, then walls.  Like others have said allow about 10mm at the bottom of the board so if you have a leak it does not wick.  The 3000 boards are a pain to heft about.  You may do better with 2400 and a cut. More tricky to plaster and decorate but far better than 2400.

[jack]

17 hours ago, Dreadnaught said:

My new build will have a large-ish open-plan room ...

 

Its a perfectly rectangular room, 9515mm by 5174mm

 

9.5m x 5m is not "large-ish" - that's a properly large space, and the ceiling height needs to be proportionate imo. 

 

Forget 2100 and 2400 imo. We have 2850 ceilings downstairs, and I wouldn't go much less than that in a reasonably large area. If you go for a touch over 3000, you can use 600 wide boards in conjunction with standard boards to reduce cutting.

 

A friend of ours has 2400 ceiling heights in their new large open plan kitchen and dining area and I think it feels claustrophobic.

 

[HerbJ]

We have 2700mm downstairs but our rooms are smaller than 9x5m but 2400mm would have been claustrophobic

 

We 2500mm height upstairs and this works well in bedrooms.

 

We would have gone a higher, eepecially dowwnstairs but had to maintain a ridge height .

[le-cerveau]

Our main room is 10m x 8m with a 5m x 5m stub.  Ceiling is 2750mm in the centres and 2650mm at the edges.

This is high enough. though the room is broken down into 4 zones with the ceiling changes.

1. Kitchen zone with a drop island holding the extractors.
2. Lounge zone.
3. Dining zone.
4. small joining zone by front hall door.

Using LED strip/ribbon lighting around the transitions.  Kitchen 4K lighting, 3k in general areas and 2.7K in bedrooms

[epsilonGreedy]

17 hours ago, PeterW said:

Would make the lower areas where sofas are etc more “cosy” and then make the roof light areas more open. 

 

 

I like the concept of creative zoning with different ceiling heights but question the desire for reduced height cosiness where the sofas are. 9515mm by 5174mm is not that big and I feel the main living area is exactly where the ceiling height should be maximized to counteract the lack of regular window area.

 

2400 is defo too low.

[Tin Soldier]

If it helps I've gone with 4m ceiling height in a similar sized room.

 

I don't live in yet, but I sure like being in it.

[dpmiller]

I'm but a simple soul and am looking forward to moving from the 2100 of our current house to a heady 2400...

[Declan52]

My upstairs is 2400mm and downstairs is 2550mm and the difference is really noticeable. It doesn't have to be a massive difference for it to give the illusion that it is bigger than it really is.

[PeterW]

I have a 7.6m by 4.6m kitchen dining that is 2 part - kitchen at 2400 for half of it, dining is 5700 with top 2700 cathedral roof and the lower part is far from low ! Upstairs (all room in roof) runs at 3200 ceiling max in most rooms apart from bathrooms that are held at 2400

 

Developers seem to be dropping to 2300 for 3 storey around here to get in more rooms at lower ridge heights

[Stones]

Our main room is 9m x 5m covering the dining area and lounge.  The ceiling is vaulted to a height of 4.8m.  The feeling of space that a high ceiling gives is very noticeable, and in many ways preferable to a larger floor area with lower ceiling. 

 

In a previous house we had a room that was 6m x 7m which you entered by descending 4 steps.  Ceiling height was 2400 but it felt very oppressive.  Simply put the scale of the room didn't match the floorspace. 

 

I would advise going as high as you possibly can.