Fabricated ceiling clouds
Fabricated ceiling clouds use metal carriers to support foliage, felt, or both—uniting natural textures and acoustic design in expressive ceiling elements. They’re typically made from materials such as acoustic PET felt, wool felt, wood veneer, or composite cores, depending on the performance and aesthetic requirements.
The key advantage lies in their precision manufacturing — shapes, edges, and finishes are finalized in the shop, allowing them to arrive installation-ready. This minimizes on-site cutting, dust, and delays while ensuring consistent quality across large-scale installations. Fabricated clouds are also highly customizable in form: sweeping curves, sharp angles, and integrated lighting can be achieved without compromising acoustic performance.
For architects working in tight timelines or controlled spaces, fabricated clouds offer a reliable, fast, and design-consistent solution that aligns perfectly with shop drawings.
Fabricated Ceiling Clouds, Lanai, Earth Collection, CSI Creative
Framed ceiling clouds
Framed ceiling clouds are fully self-supported, profile-cut forms that reconnect to themselves to create closed, continuous loops with clean, framed edges. The frame creates rigidity, allowing larger spans or complex layered assemblies that would be difficult to achieve with fabricated monolithic panels alone.
They’re often favored in open public spaces like atriums, airports, or sports facilities where mechanical access, lighting integration, and durability are top priorities. The frame can be concealed for a seamless floating look or exposed as part of the design aesthetic.
Framed solutions also excel in retrofit scenarios: when ceilings need to hide mechanical systems or integrate removable acoustic panels, frames give greater long-term flexibility.
Framed Ceiling Clouds, Basket, Summer Wind Collection, CSI Creative
Comparing acoustics performance in high-traffic commercial spaces
The acoustic performance depends less on whether the cloud is fabricated or framed, and more on the core material composition and surface coverage.
-
Fabricated Clouds often use dense acoustic substrates like PET felt or wool felt, achieving high NRC ratings (0.75–1.0) in relatively thin profiles. They are best suited for targeted speech clarity and echo control in conference rooms, retail spaces, or performance areas.
-
Framed Clouds may use stretched fabric over thick mineral wool or felt cores, which can deliver comparable or even higher NRC in certain cases — especially if deep air gaps are engineered behind the panel. These are advantageous in high-volume spaces requiring broad-spectrum sound absorption.
Ultimately, the choice comes down to design intent: fabricated for visual precision and efficiency, framed for adaptability and structural flexibility.
Fabricated vs framed clouds: installation
Installation complexity is a decisive factor.
| Factor | Fabricated Clouds | Framed Clouds |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-assembly | Fully finished off-site | Frame and skin often assembled on-site |
| Labor Intensity | Lower — minimal cutting, drilling | Higher — multiple trades may be involved |
| Lead Time Impact | Shorter once manufactured | Longer due to frame fabrication and integration |
| Site Disruption | Minimal | Moderate to significant |
For fast-track projects, fabricated clouds tend to outperform in efficiency. For projects prioritizing future modification or modular reconfiguration, framed clouds may be worth the added installation effort.
Hybrid design to get the best of both worlds
Hybrid ceiling clouds combine a structural frame with prefabricated acoustic panels, achieving both the precision of fabrication and the adaptability of framing. For example, a frame may carry integrated lighting and sprinklers while the cloud panels clip in for easy replacement or color updates.
Hybrid solutions are gaining popularity in corporate campuses, cultural venues, and educational spaces, where the design must be both brand-specific and serviceable over time.
Fabricated Ceiling Clouds, Two Pru Spec Suites, CSI Creative Case study
What is the CSI Creative offering in ceiling cloud design?
At CSI Creative, our ceiling systems are designed to address both performance and architectural storytelling. Whether your vision calls for fabricated clouds with ultra-precise edges or framed systems with engineered adaptability, we manufacture to your site’s exact conditions.
Our acoustic solutions — including PoshFelt® 100% wool felt, Soundcore® PET felt, and WoodLite wood-look panels — offer NRC ratings up to 1.0, over 224 colorways, and attachment systems engineered for minimal installation labor. Each project benefits from our shop-drawn precision, fire-rated materials, and sustainability credentials (WELL Certified, Declare, HPD).
Notably, our award-winning design team can customize cloud shapes, integrate biophilic elements, or fuse materials for a multi-texture ceiling feature. For architects seeking speed without compromise or flexibility without aesthetic sacrifice, CSI Creative delivers ceiling cloud systems that are both installation-ready and future-proof. Contact us today.
Reach out to our sales team to get your next project solved
Our team of experts can help with sample requests, substitutions, ROM takeoffs, product pricing and general consultation.
Upon submitting this form, your CSI point of contact will get back to you in less than 24 hours guaranteed - we are proud to have industry leading response times and project support from contact to install.
