Architectural Ventilated Facade Cladding Systems With UV / Wind Resistance

Architectural Facade Cladding Systems Building Materials Exterior Wall coating Terracotta Panels

Ventilated facade, also called the double-skin facade, is a cladding system with an air cushion or cavity immediately behind which provides with a drainage, ventilation and thermal solution.

It is usually an external cladding system mechanically fastened or bonded to a framework behind fixed to the external wall of a new or existing building.

This external wall may be built either of masonry (brick or cmu), concrete, or stud work (metal or timber) and a layer of thermal insulation is conveniently either between studs or laid on the outer side of the substrate wall.

The cladding elements are fixed to the substrate wall by means of a lightweight substructure which can be made of different materials, being metal a preferred choice.

The ventilation is produced by openings located at the top and bottom of the cladding or by the open joint pattern The Chimney Effect.

This ventilation allows for an exchange of air between the outside and the cavity behind the cladding panels, providing the solution for venting any moisture away from the facade, improving the thermal conditions inside the building and installing the insulation on the outside so to avoid thermal bridging.

The origin of terracotta wall panels

Terracotta wall panels are originated from the terracotta roof tiles. Using natural materials, including clay, porcelain clay, quartz sand etc., extruded by molding, and fired by high temperature above 1000 degrees in kiln. In the early 1980s, they started to be used in construction in Europe, and in 1985 the first project using terracotta panels was completed in Munich, Germany.