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Building envelope

Facade and Cladding Systems

A facade is a second skin. The wall behind it has already dealt with structure and, usually, with air and water; the outer layer then has to be held up, allowed to move, drained and vented, and joined to itself in a way that survives weather and time. That is why the lasting knowledge in this family is about brackets, rails, cavities and joints rather than about whichever panel material happens to be on the face.

The materials themselves — fibre cement, timber, terracotta, metal, render — are described in the materials library, and the wall build-up behind the skin has its own family. Curtain walling appears here because it is a facade that also encloses, and shading and living wall systems appear because they are carried the same way. Support design, fixing patterns, wind loading and fire-related detailing are matters for qualified professionals and the relevant authority.

8 system entries · educational assemblies reference · how a system performs always depends on the whole building and qualified professional design

Scope

What this category covers

Where the boundary of this part of the encyclopedia sits, including what it deliberately leaves to qualified professionals.

  • Ventilated and drained rainscreen facades and the supports that carry them
  • Applied render facades, including rendered external insulation and direct-applied systems
  • Facades that also enclose, plus vegetated and solar shading skins hung on the same wall
  • Not covered: bracket and fixing design, wind loading, fire-related detailing or approval questions

All entries

Every facades & cladding entry

The complete set for this category. Frequently referenced entries come first — a starting point, not a ranking.

Rainscreen Facade →A facade in which an outer screen takes the weather without being relied on to exclude it, separated by a drained and ventilated cavity from a backing wall that carries the control layers.Rendered External Insulation →A facade in which insulation is fixed to the outside of the wall and a reinforced render is worked straight onto its face, making the insulation itself the substrate for the finish.Curtain Walling →A non-loadbearing envelope carried on a framework of mullions and transoms spanning between floor structures, infilled with glazed or opaque panels and hung from the building itself.Direct Render →A render finish built up in coats directly onto a masonry or lathed background, with no insulation beneath the coats and no cavity between the finish and the wall.Brick Slip Facade →A facade of thin brick facings carried on a rail, board or panel fixed back to the wall or a subframe, giving a masonry appearance without a self-supporting masonry leaf.Precast Facade Panels →A facade of large factory-cast concrete units hung from or restrained back to the building structure, in which the joints between units rather than the panel faces perform the weathering.Vegetated Facade →A facade carrying living plants in a supported growing system, with irrigation, drainage and a designed separation between the planting and the building fabric behind it.External Shading →Fixed or adjustable fins, louvres, canopies or screens mounted outside the building's weather line to intercept sunlight before it reaches the glazing behind.

Elsewhere on Build Design Hub

Planning guidance for this subject

This encyclopedia explains how these assemblies are organised. These sections help with choosing between them and preparing for the conversation.

Rainscreen cladding planning →How a drained and ventilated facade is approached in planning.Facade cladding materials →The choosing-and-comparing side of facade materials.Render and cladding decision preparation →Preparation before a facade conversation.

Materials Library

What these assemblies are built from

A systems entry explains how an assembly is organised. These materials sections describe the substances themselves — what they are, how they behave and what governs their use.

Metals →Reference entries for the metals used in building — structural and light-gauge steel, galvanised and stainless steel, aluminium, copper, zinc, lead and reinforcement.Exterior Cladding →Reference entries for external wall finishes — fibre cement, timber and composite cladding, vinyl siding, metal and laminate panels, terracotta rainscreens and the render families.Glass & Glazing →Reference entries for glass and glazing products — float, toughened and laminated glass, insulated glass units, low-emissivity coatings, obscured glass, glass block and polycarbonate.Paints & Coatings →Reference entries for applied coatings — traditional mineral and oil paints, masonry and facade coatings, protective and marking paints, and the oils, waxes and varnishes used on timber.

Building Systems Encyclopedia

Reference entries for building assemblies — how each is organised, what role every component plays, how the parts interact and which junctions matter.

Browse all building systems →