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Architecture vocabulary · Building Elements and Structure

Suspended ceiling

Meaning in architecture, with examples

nounCommon term

In architecture, suspended ceiling means: A second ceiling hung below the structural slab, leaving a gap where ducts, cables, pipes and light fittings can run out of sight.

In Turkish: asma tavan

How it is used

Common in offices, schools and hospitals, usually made of tiles in a metal grid or of plasterboard. British English also says false ceiling; American English often says drop or dropped ceiling. The space above it is the ceiling void.

Example sentences

  1. There's only 400 mm above the suspended ceiling for the air-conditioning ducts.

  2. In the lobby we removed the suspended ceiling to expose the concrete slab.

Common collocations

  • suspended ceiling grid
  • ceiling void
  • ceiling tiles
  • false ceiling
  • plasterboard ceiling
  • partition wallAn internal wall that divides one space from another but does not carry the building's structural loads, so it can usually be moved or removed.
  • slabA flat horizontal structural element, usually of reinforced concrete, that forms a floor or roof and spreads loads to beams, walls or columns.
  • beamA horizontal structural member that carries loads across an opening or between supports and transfers them to columns or walls.
  • sectionA drawing of a building cut vertically from top to bottom, showing the floors, ceiling heights, roof, stairs and how the inside spaces relate to each other.

More terms: Building Elements and Structure

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