Some of Perth’s leading architects and interior designers gathered at Chancery House in Perth in May to experience USG Boral’s innovative new ceiling system, Ensemble™.

Experience really was the word. The first Australian installation of Ensemble in the refurbishment of the National Trust-listed 1920s building enabled a clean, smooth heritage effect for the ceiling. Importantly, the foyer with multiple hard surfaces has been transformed acoustically.

Roger Gregson of Oldfield Knott Architects said, “You can just hear the difference in the voices; they just quietly get lost. The sounds of people coming in and out of the lift fall into the background, whereas before they were very resonant.”

Michael Goldschlager of String Musicians Australia, who played cello at the evening launch, was highly impressed by the acoustics of the Chancery House foyer, given its marble floor and lofty central atrium. “It was surprising,” he said. “In a space like this you would expect to have all sorts of problems with reverberation and it seemed to just drink it up in an appropriate way and leave just enough for warmth … I’ve played all the great halls of the world… We’re looking for an appropriate amount of decay, a clarity of attack and attenuation of … the middle range and trebles, and it does it just beautifully!”

For Barry Milne, Site Supervisor with Finlay Group Constructions, a major advantage was the speed of installation of the multi-component system – as the work had to take place in a narrow timeframe over the Christmas break.

The USG Boral Ensemble monolithic acoustic ceiling system is installed in just six steps – compared to other systems which involve 10-14 steps.
    “The reason we chose Ensemble is for the simplicity of the installation, as it still gives the same acoustic qualities as a tile-and-grid ceiling system,” Mr Milne said.

    Mr Gregson added, “To get a monolithic ceiling looking like that, and it’s also acoustic – we are very, very pleased with it.”

For more information on the USG Boral Ensemble System and the Chancery House project, visit usgboral.com/au/ensemble