Plasterboard stud partitions

Plasterboard stud office partitions on a metal frame, insulated for sound and finished ready to decorate, with typical UK costs and timescales.

In short: Plasterboard stud partitions are solid walls built from a lightweight metal frame lined with plasterboard, usually insulated for sound and taped and jointed ready to decorate. They suit businesses needing permanent private offices, storage, comms rooms or solid meeting rooms at the lowest cost. In the UK they typically cost around £120 to £250 per linear metre including finishing.

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A metal stud partition is built from galvanised steel channels fixed to the floor and ceiling, with vertical studs at regular centres, typically 600mm, lined on both sides with plasterboard. Mineral wool insulation in the cavity improves sound performance, and doubling up the boards or using acoustic plasterboard increases it further. Joints are taped and filled, or the wall is skimmed, ready for paint. It is the standard construction for solid office walls because it is cheap, quick and easy to adapt with doors, borrowed lights and services.

Performance depends heavily on detail. A stud wall that stops at a suspended ceiling allows sound to pass over the top through the ceiling void, and can let fire and smoke spread too, so walls are often taken up to the slab or fitted with a void barrier above the grid. Fire-rated versions use specific board types and thicknesses to achieve tested ratings. Plasterboard also creates more dust and needs more finishing time than prefabricated systems, so installation is usually planned out of hours or behind screens in occupied offices.

What is included

Setting out of the wall line, doors and any glazed panels
Galvanised metal head and base track with studs at the specified centres
Mineral wool acoustic insulation in the cavity
Plasterboard lining, single or double layer, standard, acoustic or fire-rated
Door openings framed and lined, with doors and frames fitted
Tape and joint or skim finish ready for decoration
Allowance for sockets, data points and switches to be boxed in
Optional extension to the slab or a ceiling void barrier for sound and fire

Who it is for

Permanent private offices and solid meeting rooms
Storage rooms, comms rooms, print rooms and kitchens
Budget-led fit-outs where daylight is not a priority
Rooms that need good sound insulation at a lower cost than glass
Owner-occupied offices where walls will not need removing

How much does it cost?

As a guide, plasterboard stud partitions typically cost around £120 to £250 per linear metre at a standard ceiling height of around 2.7m, including insulation and finishing. Doors, acoustic upgrades, fire ratings and decoration add to this. See our full cost guide.

How it works

Set out

The wall line, door positions and any borrowed lights are marked on the floor and ceiling and checked against services and the ceiling grid.

Frame and insulate

Head and base tracks and studs are fixed, door openings framed, cables run, and insulation fitted into the cavity.

Board and finish

Plasterboard is fixed to both faces, joints taped and filled or the wall skimmed, and edges finished neatly to walls and ceiling.

Doors and decoration

Doors and ironmongery are fitted, and the wall is decorated if included, ready for furniture and electrical second fix.

Plasterboard stud partitions: FAQs

How soundproof is a plasterboard office wall?

An insulated metal stud wall with single plasterboard on each side typically achieves around 42 to 45 dB Rw, and double boarding or acoustic plasterboard can push this towards 50 dB or more. Real performance on site is usually lower, often by several decibels, because of doors, sockets back to back, and sound passing over the wall through the ceiling void. Those weak points matter as much as the wall build.

How long does a plasterboard partition take to build?

A simple stud wall with a door for one office can often be framed and boarded in a day or two, but taping, jointing and filling need drying time between coats, so a finished wall ready to paint typically takes three to five working days. Skimmed walls also need to dry before decoration. Larger runs are often phased across a week or more.

Can you put a glass panel into a stud wall?

Yes. Borrowed lights, vision panels or full-height glazed sections can be framed into a plasterboard wall to bring light into the room or let people see if it is occupied. The glazing must be safety glass in a suitable frame, and it must match the wall's fire rating if the wall is fire-rated. This is a common way to combine the cost of plasterboard with some natural light.

Should the wall go above the suspended ceiling?

For meeting rooms, private offices and anything fire-rated, it is usually best to either build the wall up to the slab or fit an acoustic and fire barrier in the ceiling void above it. Otherwise, sound and smoke can pass over the top. Running to the slab can affect air conditioning, sprinklers and services in the void, so this is checked at survey.