The Advantages of Aluminium Ceiling Battens

Over the last few years, we have seen a significant surge in designs that utilise aluminium as a materiality. This is understandable as aluminium is an incredibly flexible building material. It has intrinsic properties that allow it to be lightweight while maintaining durability. It’s resistant to corrosion and achieves Group 1 fire compliance. The other two significant advantages are Aluminium Batten length availability and the various finishing options.

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Why Aluminium length availability is an advantage when designing your next Ceiling Batten feature

When designing a ceiling batten feature, it is critical to consider the length availability of the materiality that you have selected. If we take a design example of a ceiling with a single 5m long span – this span would be near impossible to achieve in a natural timber batten due to the scarce availability of lengths above 3.6m.

Aluminium is an extruded alloy product, which means we can guarantee length availability. Standard-length sizes available in Aluminium Ceiling Battens are 3.0m-7.0m. Anything shorter than 3.0m can then be cut down on-site by your nominated contractor. Going back to our original design example, you can achieve the required 5m span in a single batten using Aluminium. This alleviates the need for unsightly joins across the plane of your ceiling batten application.

***DESIGN TIP: Typically, Aluminium Battens are supplied in a 3,600mm Length. Ensure you specify a longer length if that is your design intent. 

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The various Batten Finishes available when designing with Aluminium

As a building designer, one of the most attractive advantages that Aluminium offers is the sheer diversity of finishing options. No other building material comes close to achieving the variability of finishes available. Once an Aluminium Batten has been extruded into a mill finish batten, the following finishing options are available:

☉ Remain a mill finish extrusion (popular for industrial applications where low cost is critical). Not something we would recommend for internal ceiling batten applications. 

☉ Be coated in a solid powder coat finish.

☉ Be anodised

☉ Be coated in a Timber Effect powder coat to mimic the aesthetic of natural timber.

☉ Be coated in a powder coat with film designed to mimic the look of Concrete or materials such as Corten steel.

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Want to learn more about these finishing options? Here are some blogs to read:

LINK TO BLOG on Powdercoat vs Anodise

LINK TO BLOG on What is Timber Effect and How is it Achieved?

The design flexibility of Aluminium Battens

Aluminium is a fantastic material selection as its intrinsic properties allow it to be formed into all kinds of different shapes. We call this a malleable material. Aluminium Ceiling Batten features can include aluminium battens extruded in straight sections or rolled to achieve curving design intents. This flexibility allows designers the freedom to create an Aluminium Ceiling Batten feature that is truly unique to their project.

Please consult an MBS Architectural representative if you are looking to detail a curved Aluminium Ceiling Batten feature. 

Aluminium Battens are the most durable material

Compared to other materiality choices for Ceiling Battens (i.e. timber or MDF), Aluminium is significantly more durable. Not just from a hardiness perspective, Aluminium is also resistant to UV and other weather effects and is corrosive resistant. It is also an extremely stable material. This means that a Ceiling Batten design that consists of Aluminium Battens is not at risk of movement (a core advantage over Timber Batten ceilings).

Aluminium Battens are Lightweight

One of the major advantages of Aluminium is its weight relative to its counterparts. The weight of your ceiling batten application affects the size and scope of the structure required to support and suspend that Ceiling Batten. Where Aluminium is used in lieu of say, timber, the quantity of support structure needed to carry the Aluminium Battens is significantly reduced. This means the builder needs to purchase substantially less support material. Subsequently, the installation time and labour costs are also reduced as they don't need to install this additional support structure. Further, lighter battens are also easier to transport and handle and require fewer installers to lift into position on-site, making them easier to work with overall.

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Corrosive resistance

Aluminium as a material has a natural oxide coating. This creates an effective barrier against elements that negatively wear other metals. Subsequently, this makes aluminium ceiling battens an excellent choice when designing in a wet environment (i.e. a pool application).

Designer note: When specifying any metal system in a wet area, you should always consider the effects of galvanic corrosion between two dissimilar metals – please get in touch with MBS Architectural if you would like suggestions on how to design to minimise galvanic corrosion.

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Aluminium Battens Achieve Group 1 Fire Compliance

Fire compliance is becoming an increasing focus on construction projects in Australia, and Aluminium is an excellent materiality choice for Ceiling Batten applications where Group 1 Fire Compliance is required. Aluminium ceiling battens combined with a Timber Effect Powder Coat allow designers the freedom to achieve a biophilic design intent while maintaining Group 1 Fire Compliance.

These advantages all lead to aluminium being one of the most popular building materials in the design and construction industry and an excellent choice for your ceiling batten feature.

If you have any questions or would like to request a physical sample, please reach out to our dedicated MBS Architectural team.