In shops and offices the suspended ceiling carries the lighting, hides cabling and ducts and keeps them accessible through hatches. The lighting plan — general, accent and decorative light — should be fixed before the ceiling is designed, because fittings, coves and access points are built into it. Safety lighting in circulation areas falls under the building code; your technician sets the requirements. Electrics are carried out by authorised partner installers under our coordination.
Why decide the lighting before the ceiling?
Because the ceiling is built around it. Recessed fittings need openings and support; a lighting cove needs a recess in the edge of the ceiling and a power feed; track lighting needs a fixing line; pendants need reinforcement. If the lighting plan changes after the ceiling is closed, boards are cut, patched and repainted, and the result rarely looks as clean.
A lighting plan does not have to be complicated. It answers three questions for each area: how bright should it be overall, what should stand out, and what mood should it have? From that come the types and positions of fittings, which we translate into ceiling details with your designer or technician.
Which kinds of light does a shop need?
- General light that lets customers move around comfortably and see colours accurately.
- Accent light on products, shelves or displays, so the eye goes where the business wants it to.
- Decorative or indirect light, such as a cove around the edge of the ceiling, which softens the space and makes it feel finished.
- Task light at the counter, the fitting rooms or the work surfaces in an office.
- Safety lighting along circulation routes and exits, as required by the building code for your premises.
Balancing these is a design question. Our part is to build the ceiling and walls so each type of light can be installed cleanly and maintained easily.
What does the building code say about lighting?
The safety-in-use section of Spain’s building code, CTE DB-SUA, includes a part on the risk caused by inadequate lighting, which covers adequate lighting in circulation areas, including in emergencies. Which requirements apply to your premises, and what levels and fittings are needed, is set by your architect or engineer as part of the project (to be verified case by case). Electrical installations also have their own regulations, which the authorised partner installers who carry out our electrical work apply.
We do not design lighting to meet regulations; we build what the project specifies and make sure emergency fittings are placed where the drawings show them, not where the ceiling grid happens to be convenient.
Which ceiling types work in commercial units?
The main options each have their place:
- Continuous plasterboard ceilings give a clean, seamless surface that takes coves, recessed fittings and feature details well. Access to services is through hatches placed where they will be needed.
- Modular tile ceilings make access easy everywhere and suit offices and back-of-house areas, at the cost of a more utilitarian look.
- Open ceilings, with the slab and services painted, suit some brands and give height, but demand tidy services and good acoustic treatment elsewhere.
- Combinations: a continuous ceiling over the sales floor and modular tiles in storage, or an open centre with a plasterboard perimeter.
Our photos of projects show continuous ceilings with coves and the framing behind them.
How do you keep services accessible?
Above a commercial ceiling there are usually cables, data lines, drainage from upper floors, air-conditioning units or ducts, and sometimes fire detection. All of these may need maintenance. In a continuous ceiling, we agree the position and size of access hatches with you and the installers before closing, placing them where they serve the equipment but do not disrupt the look of the space.
It is a small detail with large consequences: a missing hatch means cutting the ceiling the first time a unit above needs servicing.
How is a lighting cove built?
A cove is a recess along the edge of a suspended ceiling that hides an LED strip and throws light onto the ceiling or the wall. It is built in plasterboard on a metal frame, with the depth and opening chosen so the strip is hidden from normal viewing angles and the light spreads evenly. The power feed and driver need to be accessible, which is planned when the cove is drawn.
Coves make a strong impression for relatively little complexity, which is why they appear so often in our gallery. They also show every imperfection in the board, so the finish has to be precise.
In what order are ceiling and lighting built?
The sequence is simple, and skipping a step is what causes trouble later:
- Lighting plan agreed, with positions of fittings, coves, emergency lights and hatches marked on a ceiling drawing.
- Services above the ceiling first-fixed: cabling for lighting and power, data, any ducts or air-conditioning units by their installers.
- Testing of what will be hidden, before anything closes.
- Ceiling framing built, with extra support where heavy fittings or pendants will hang and framing for coves and hatches.
- Boards fixed, joints taped and filled, openings cut for fittings.
- Finishing and painting, with the cove and edges given particular care.
- Second fix: fittings, LED strips and drivers installed and connected by the partner installers, then tested.
Each step is checked before the next begins. It is not glamorous, but it is why a finished ceiling stays straight, quiet and easy to maintain.
What about offices specifically?
Offices need light that suits screens: even, without glare or bright reflections, and comfortable over long hours. Meeting rooms benefit from more flexible lighting, and break areas from warmer light. Ceilings in offices also matter for acoustics, especially in open-plan areas. The guide on office layout covers these points from the planning side; the page on office refurbishment describes the building work, and shop refurbishment the retail equivalent.
Official sources
Bauman Raymond Attila · Reforma Locales Málaga · Avenida Antonio Belón 3, Marbella. Last reviewed: 05/11/2026.
