Coinciding with its move to establish a stock-holding and distribution facility in Dubai towards the end of this year, Ace Ceiling Products’ participation at the Big 5 show will help further entrench the company in the Gulf market.

An access ceiling products designer and manufacturer, Ace is a well established and highly regarded UK firm producing a comprehensive range of products used throughout the world by architects, designers and specifiers involved in design and build projects. Its range of access panels are designed specifically to overcome problems of inspection and maintenance to services by providing rigid steel panels where access is needed.
“Establishing a distribution facility in Dubai is extremely important to us,” says Dominic Such, director at Ace. “We will now have local stock availability for Dubai and the surrounding regions, which ultimately will speed up efficiency and deliverability.”
Ace already has a good track record in the Gulf region, with a number of successful projects completed including the Atlantis Hotel, Wafi Hotel, Index Towers, Dubai Festival City, Kempinksi Mall of The Emirates and the Emirates airlines headquarters.
The new stock-holding and distribution facility will not only greatly support its product availability to the region but also enable the company to work more closely with local and regional contractors.
 Says Damian Jones, CAD manager of Ace: “We’re a streamlined operation that reacts fast to client needs. Our technical capability, adaptability and turn-around time sets us apart from other companies. We work with smaller and larger projects, can custom-design one-offs cost-effectively and we deliver on time and on budget wherever the project takes us. Thus, our new facility in Dubai means we have a great opportunity to bring our expertise and knowledge to the Middle East market.”
Ace has a product for every ceiling design challenge. Explaining the challenge involved in providing ceiling access, Such says: “Provision of access into ceiling voids or wall cavities is required in all modern buildings. As services get continually condensed into smaller voids, particularly along corridors, suspension from soffits becomes very difficult. In all circumstances where access to void spaces for services is required, Ace has developed a product line to overcome these difficulties.”
Ace manufactures a range of standard stock products, including panel doors and frame products to suit dry-lining ceiling solutions, which are available in a range of sizes from stock with other sizes available to order. These can be retro-fitted and decorated to match the surrounding ceiling. Its standard product range includes a door range that suits drylining walls and partition systems. All its products are available as either fire-rated or non-fire-rated.
Ace’s other standard products include tiled wall access panels, which provide fully concealed wall access and include a gap to simulate grout. The panels are faced with the same material as the rest of the wall and materials used can include ceramic tiles, granite, slate, limestone and wood.
Besides its standard range, Ace offers custom-designed ceiling and wall access panels. In this range, Ace’s fully accessible corridor system provides a continuous, accessible and demountable ceiling system, spanning wall to wall. Each panel is independently removable without the use of extraction tools. In addition, custom-designed ceiling and wall access panels in a range of decorative finishes and designed to satisfy the individual or unique requirements of the client are also produced.

Fire-rated solutions
Ace can also provide a solution when architects, design consultants or specifiers require fire-rated products. Both ceiling and wall panel products can be provided to the required standards. These include fire-rated ceiling access panels in accordance with BS 476 parts 20 and 23 and fire-rated wall access panels in accordance to BS 476 part 20.  In addition, for projects that require acoustic performance, Ace conforms to BS EN 150 140 Parts 4 and 7 1998.
“Having fire-rated and acoustic compliance has been an important factor on some of our more challenging projects” says Jones. “We’ve been involved in some very complicated design projects where not only has fire-rating and acoustics been required but also air handling and lighting performance. We have to work very closely with contractors right from the outset and be able to deliver the right solution on schedule to enable the other trades to continue without disruption or delay to the pre-agreed construction timeframe.”
A family business incorporated since 1978, Ace has invested a great deal over the years, especially in the latest CAD technology and manufacturing techniques as well as in ensuring that the company’s infrastructure supports highly trained designers and technical advisors.
“Our in-house research and development (R&D) facilities and highly trained technical staff ensure every project is monitored at each stage under stringent quality control,” says Jones. “We take great pride in our careful planning and processing, meticulous detail and precise installation drawings. It is not unusual for the in-house team at Ace to work with architects, designers and contractors from project conception right through to project completion to ensure that the desired outcome is delivered to design and specification, on budget and on time.”
“At the end of the day, we help architects and designers achieve their design practically and cost effectively – and that’s why they come back to us,” he concludes.