Star dome

A few years ago, when Starscape was first planning to add an "off the shelf" star ceiling product, we thought long and hard about whether our new project should take the form of a flat disk or a dome. Domes add a very dramatic focal point to any room, but their installation can be less than straightforward. The chief problem is that a traditional hemispherical dome - where the depth is equal to half the diameter - uses up too much ceiling height. You either need to drop your ceiling by a few feet or else settle for a very small dome.

We scoured the UK's GRP manufacturing sector looking for a suitable dome, with a more shallow curve, but could find nothing suitable. So, instead we went ahead and developed our very attractive Galaxy star ceiling (left) - a flat panel that can be installed in any room.

However, in 2007 we decided to have another look at introducing a domed star ceiling to our range, and we commissioned a GRP company to develop a mould for a large (1.8 metres) but very shallow (15 cm) dome. The result is a product that provides the appeal of the curved geometry of a dome without using too much of a room's height. In fact, if the dome is being installed in a room where there is an existing plasterboard ceiling which is to be hidden by a new suspended ceiling, you could save another couple of centimetres by cutting an opening in the plasterboard between two joists to accommodate the very top of the dome.

In the spring of 2009 we modified the mould to increase the height of the flange around the rim. This means that it is now possible to fix the dome directly to an existing flat ceiling, although this would not be the ideal method of installation.

The dome has a vertical flange or ring around the rim, which is chiefly there for ease of installation. The dome weighs less than 30 kg and can be quickly and easily suspended from the underlying ceiling structure. Where room height is really at a premium the flange also allows you to adopt a semi-recessed installation method, in which the lower part of the dome actually projects a few centimetres below the main ceiling level. It is also possible to fix the dome directly to a flat ceiling.

However, where possible, the recommended installation would be as above, where the rim of the dome actually "floats" a few centimetres above the finished height of the ceiling. This not only adds to the visual impact of the dome, accentuating the curve, but also allows for the addition of LED rim lighting which is set back from the edge of the opening in the plasterboard.

The dome pictured above has about 500 fibre optic stars, laid out to depict a winter's night sky, with fibres of several different diameters used to create stars of varying brightness.

Hundreds of optical fibres are used to create the stars in Starscape's dome.

In this photo taken in the workshop you can see the bird's nest effect of 500 optical fibres distributed across the back of the dome. The red Xs are part of the colour coding system designed to ensure that fibres of the correct diameter are used to represent each star in its authentic level of relative brightness.

The current version of the dome has a slightly higher ring or flange around the rim, so that the top of the dome is not now the highest part of the structure. This makes it possible to fit the dome to a flat ceiling, if so desired.

The vertical flange or rim around the outside of the dome is primarily for fixing purposes, but since it has the same colour and glossy finish as the face of the dome it can be exposed if there is a need for a semi-recessed or fully exposed installation.

Starscape's fibre optic star dome is suspended on four steel wires.

This dome was installed in a hospital in Scotland, in the "Quiet Room". The photo at left show the dome hanging from the floor slab above, prior to installation of the plasterboard ceiling. The photo at right shows the completed project. The dome floats a few centimetres above the opening in the plasterboard, enhancing the domed effect. The halogen light source is located in the ceiling void at the edge of the room where a suspended ceiling tile system allows for easy access for bulb change.

This is a semi-bespoke item, so price depends to a large extent on a customer's specific preferences - number of stars, provision of rim lighting etc. This means that the price could be anywhere between £1200 and £2000 (ex-works) depending on final specification. Lead time will typically be about a month.