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May 08, 2023

What is a Waffle Ceiling? 47 Interiors That Live Life Under the Grid

Hidden in plain sight, ceilings are often the final surface interior designers

Hidden in plain sight, ceilings are often the final surface interior designers and architects think about, but the expansive plane of unobstructed plaster or concrete offers mar more creative freedom than we realize. Modern design rules demand that the ceiling is kept clean. Not with a telescopic mop attachment, but by stripping off the popcorn spray, wood-chip wallpaper, or plaster patterning that haunt my own memories of ceilings-past.

While many clients greet this contemporary need for clean lines with acquiescence, choosing smooth, skimmed plaster finishes with unobtrusive yet forgetful recessed spots, other bolder clients recognize the ceiling's potential for the creative outlet it is.

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Waffle and coffered ceilings present a grid pattern, usually square, but occasionally more geometric, to add depth or light, or to support large interiors. Here is a selection of projects that either add or reveal waffle and coffered ceilings to change the architectural feel of a room. Adding coziness and quiet comfort, helping to direct light or lighting effects, and providing subtle opportunities to contrast colors and materials.

Derived from the Latin word for basked, coffered ceilings are those that cross beams in a geometric grid to create an arranged series of recesses in between. Often used to hide cables and ventilation, cover imperfections, or add depth, the practice became popular in Renaissance-era architecture for its ability to focus visitors’ attention toward the intricate moldings or murals displayed in the recess. The modern application of coffered ceilings, therefore, can be used to add elegance and regality to a space.

When renovating the Camparino bar in Galleria in Milan, Italy, for example, a backlit coffered ceiling referenced the traditional decor of the Bar di Passo, while still adhering to the contemporary design rules of clean lines, adding subtle diffused light to the bar area. Using more pronounced coffered recesses, however, as the narrow footprint of the Bean to Bar Chocolatiers in Kuwait does, can create the illusion of additional depth.

Not the first to discover the benefits of coffered ceilings, however, Renaissance architects were simply imitating Roman architecture's use of structural waffle-slab ceilings as a strong yet lightweight load-bearing ceiling technique. In search of more sustainable construction techniques, instead of asking themselves what needs to be added to a renovated project, more architects are now considering what can be taken away.

Georges Batzios Architects’ Office Building in Attica, Lykovrysi, Greece, for example, removed multiple unnecessary layers of the false ceiling before getting to the concrete waffle-slab ceiling underneath. Once the raw concrete form was discovered, the architects based the project's entire design intervention around its waffle format, inspiring the building's engaging brutalist character. The structural capacity of waffle-slab ceilings is also apparent in the House in Adleia da Serra, in Santana de Parnaíba, Brazil. Sitting on only four columns, the 16sqm ceiling structure holds a 20cm-deep reflecting pool, accessible via a ground-level bridge due to the site's sloped topography.

The recessed cavities of coffered waffle ceilings may help to reduce the weight of the ceiling while retaining its structural capacity, especially helping larger spaces to rely on fewer or slimmer supports, but there's a range of other benefits the deeper cavities provide as well. In both public but hushed spaces like libraries and art galleries – whose business it is to provide a quiet and calming atmosphere – as well as vast public environments filled with echoes of noisy chatter such as schools, public transport and public pools, a deeply-recessed waffle ceiling helps reduce the cacophony of competing noises by capturing the sound rather than bouncing it back down into the space.

In the 71 Above Restaurant in Los Angeles, California, US, for example, Tag Front Architects, in conjunction with Arktura, ‘developed a system of custom hexagonally-shaped cellular coffers made of recycled plastic to dampen sound,’ explain the architects. Meanwhile, at the Joseph D. Jamail Lecture Hall in New York, US, both recessed and extruding portions of the customized waffle ceiling combine to direct sound to the back of the performance space's seating area, while also hiding away technical components like stage lights, diffusers, and a cinematic projector.

Along with the practical benefits of a structural, acoustic coffered waffle ceiling, the patterned grid is an aesthetic that can turn the ‘fifth wall’ into a striking feature. The L’atelier at Greenwood High School in Bengaluru, India, for example, highlights the school's architectural elements like structural ceilings, staircases, and door and window frames, painting them in vibrant yellow and orange. After removing superfluous surface layers at the XVII Emblazoned House Refurbishment project in Ponferrada, Spain, meanwhile, architect Marcos Miguélez found fine plaster moldings set in a coffered ceiling, and traditional stone and timber-frame partitions. Deciding to hold on to the period features, the architects ensured they stood out further by contrasting tradition with modernity, using more contemporary materials of wood and glass on opposing surfaces.

With multiple separated and divided surfaces, waffle ceilings also offer more opportunities to add contrast by playing with color, material, and light by themselves. At the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Canada, for example, small lights in the individual coffered recesses highlight the shape of each one, while dividing the triangular grid of Douglas fir glulam timber with thin corridors, contrasting the cavities of diffused light with thick lines of shadow, thus giving the patterned ceiling more prominence.

The depth of coffered waffle ceilings is the perfect space in which to install artificial lighting elements and hide the cabling to connect them. Integrated strip lighting at Fintech HQ in Alphaville, Brazil, for example, highlights the grid pattern of its waffle-slab ceiling, while by lighting some recesses and leaving others dark, the CO-OP Ramen Restaurant in Bentonville, Arkansas, US, adds another dimension to its glowing plywood ceiling.

The strength of the waffle grid's structural beams, meanwhile, allows the spaces in between to be swapped out for glazed skylights, giving natural light a simple route straight through interiors. At the Kasmin Gallery in New York, US, skylights in the waffle grid shower the gallery space with natural light, while still allowing the structural capacity of the waffle beams to hold the weight of a roof garden above, itself servicing passing walkers on the adjacent High Line park with a verdurous view.

Find these selected projects with Glazed Facades in this My ArchDaily folder created by the author.

This article is part of an ArchDaily series that explores features of interior architecture, from our own database of projects. Every month, we will highlight how architects and designers are utilizing new elements, new characteristics, and new signatures in interior spaces around the world. As always, at ArchDaily, we highly appreciate the input of our readers. If you think we should mention specific ideas, please submit your suggestions.