The Berry Brothers & Rudd vault houses an exceptional bespoke ceiling. The vision of the designer was for the ceiling to mimic the appearance of a timbrel vault (this is a ceiling made from arching tile or brick work to form a vaulted ceiling that supports the floor above). They came to Simplicity looking for a solution to deliver the timbrel effect but working around the constraints of the existing building. We designed a lightweight GRG solution, creating a vaulted ceiling and then attaching individual handmade clay tiles in a terracotta effect.
Traditionally, these types of ceilings are built from the outside in using a timber former. However due to us having to build our ceiling within an existing structure we had to build from the inside. We did this by constructing the vaulted GRG ceiling, which was lighter weight than using timber and therefore able to be attached to the existing structure with no issues. To support the GRG structure, we developed a bespoke galvanised steel frame.
In total we manufactured and installed 6000 tiles to form the complex shape of the vaulted ceiling. The tiles had to sit flat but as the ceiling went up and over, we were adding more tiles to achieve the desired pattern finish, mimicking the look of a traditionally constructed vault. We also had to work around the fibre optic lighting, making sure this was able to be installed alongside our tiles. Overall, this is a fantastic project that utilises modern materials in a constrained environment and delivers something extraordinary.