The Galaxy Star Ceiling

Rich in detail, and highly textured, the Galaxy with its sculpted constellation graphics will be the focal point of any room where it is installed.

This fantastic new product is available now direct from starscape. Order on line or by phone. For more information visit the Galaxy link under star ceilings main navigation bar or click here.

 

 

Customer project 3 Spa ceiling

One of Starscape’s Custom Star Kits was the starting point for an interesting Spa Room lighting project carried out by T.I. of Altringham, ably assisted by his wife.

The layout of the room presented some challenges, but this couple rose to the occasion and successfully completed an impressive job, as they describe here:
The sloping ceiling meant there was no access from above, so starfield panels were made instead.
“As you can see from the installation photographs, the arrangement of the ceiling was such that the fibres had to be fed in from underneath. Therefore, we insulated the ceiling, and retained this with battens. These battens were strategically placed to support the false ceiling boards.

The boards were initially fitted, then removed to allow the holes for the fibres to be drilled. The fibres were then fed in from above, and glued in place using some 'No More Nails'. Once the fibres were fitted the board was lifted into place and fixed with screws. (As the ceiling was to be dark, the screws would not show up.)

The lightsource was positioned in an accessible void above an adjacent room.
Once fully installed, we decided to paint the ceiling and the fibres. The paint on the fibres gave a slightly dull effect to the stars which we felt was much improved. Let me just add that we are very happy with the final effect, but there is always room to improve, isn't there!

The star effect is used in our application when little if no other light is present (It is our Spa room, and the only other light source used – when relaxing - is the tub lighting).

This makes the stars very bright, and therefore in our application stand out more.
Besides, the blue paint on the stars does seem to give it more of a night sky feel (for some reason).


The position of the Plough (Seen in the photos) was roughly as we would see it from our home, and generated using 2 or 3 fibres together, this we found to be unnecessary after the painting exercise.

If we were to do this again, we would probably use smaller sections of board, and longer fibres (allowing the boards to drop to the floor while installing).

The mural on the walls is not yet complete, so don't look at the walls too much!

The installation was difficult but not impossible, and it has proven to be a fantastic conclusion!”
Fibres were clustered together to create the brighter stars in the featured constellation of Ursa Major - variously known as the Great Bear, the Plough or the Big Dipper.
The exposure in this photo isn't quite right, but it makes the Plough stand out very clearly.
The slight reflection off the ceiling above the bright stars of the Plough indicate that in this installation the fibres are protruding slightly from the surface of the MDF panels.
The light from the stars provides a dim "nightlight" effect, but downlights are installed for occasions when more light is needed.
Starscape technical comments:

Although our kits generally come with fibres of two different diameters, giving a basic level of variation in the brightness of the stars, you can increase the 3D effect of the installation by using a variety of methods to filter the light from some of the fibres. As T.I. discovered, a bit of paint across the fibre end will work as an effective filter, although to vary the effect you want to make sure that the same level of dimming isn’t present in every fibre.

Other ways of varying the light output are to kink some of the fibres just before they pass through the plasterboard/MDF (this damages the surface coating of the fibre and reduces the light slightly) or to cut the fibre end at an angle.

Adding some real constellations (in this case just Ursa Major – the Great Bear – known as the Plough in Britain and the Big Dipper in America) will make a big difference to the finished effect.

The Plough is probably the first constellation that most people learn, but Orion is another distinctive one – and very easy to create with the optical fibres. To get the best effect, look at a star chart (in an astronomy book or website) and make a note of the different magnitudes of the stars. Low numbers represent the brightest stars in this system.

You can’t expect to recreate every magnitude accurately, so the thing to aim for is to try to place fibres of perhaps four different levels of brightness to create a convincing display of the chosen constellation. We’ll be happy to help with advice in this respect.

 

 

Star Cloths

 

End glow fibres