The air flow in the office ventilation system known as displacement ventilation is dominated by a gravity current from the inlet and buoyant plumes above internal heat sources. Calculations of the flow and heat transfer in a typical office room have been made for this type of ventilation system used in conjunction with chilled ceiling panels. These calculations have been made in parallel with full size test chamber experiments. It has been found that with higher values of internal load (45 and 72 W m(-2) of floor area) the flow becomes quasi-periodic in nature. Complex lateral oscillations are seen in the plumes above the heat sources which impinge on the ceiling and induce significant recirculating flows in the room. The frequency spectra of the transient calculations show good agreement with those of the experimental results. Comparison is also made between calculated mean room air speeds and temperature profiles and measured values.