[Porsche-O-Phile]

I agree - ceilings in general (particularly in residential construction) are tremendously overlooked. For some good examples of ceiling treatments/articulations, go take a look at a decent hotel. Seriously. Most (better) hotels for whatever reason tend to have some of the best ceiling treatments I've come across in general - they tend to use a lot of variations in height, articulations, cove lighting, recesses, etc. They're interesting to look at, generally speaking. Might give you some good ideas.

As a general rule most residential = hardlid, paint or popcorn spray and forget about it. Commercial = T-bar grid lay-in or exposed and forget about it. Very much a lost opportunity in MOST (but not all) cases.

You should be able to find metal-clad "sandwich" panels that you could use. Don't have to have a commercial-looking grid, you could furr it out or whatever then use recessed (or exposed, your choice) fasteners with tight joints. Those panels ain't cheap though...