Commonly known as terracotta, the Latin word for “baked earth,” ceramic facades have been immensely popular across the globe. It emerged as the go-to cladding material of the early 20th-century architectural masterpieces such as the Wrigley Building in Chicago and New York City’s Flatiron Building. Ceramic facades are becoming the top choice material for building facades once more because of their durable and versatile qualities.
What is Ceramic Facade Cladding?
Ceramic facade cladding is a highly flexible, modern facade solution that provides exceptional aesthetic and mechanical characteristics. Available in a wide variety of gorgeous textures and colours, ceramic cladding allows designers and builders to achieve all types of facade finishes they want.
Made completely from natural materials, ceramic facades can be designed to obtain a traditional finish or a more modern look, recreating a clean and minimalist aesthetic using finishes such as timber and mushroom tones.
Ceramic cladding also provides a long-lasting elegant look. Each ceramic panel offers full tonal purity and design texture, with colourfast technology to ensure that its aesthetic appeal stays the same for a long time.
Sustainable Facades
The sustainability of ceramic facades is one of the main reasons why they are gaining popularity among architects and builders nowadays.
Sustainable facades refer to exterior enclosures of buildings that are made from recycled materials and at the same time provide environmental-friendly benefits such as utilising a lesser amount of energy to maintain the indoor temperature, which in turn enhances the efficiency of specific materials.
KLAY is the proud Australian agent for Agrob Buchtal, the German manufacturer of highly versatile and sustainable ceramic facade systems, KeraTwin facade panels and KeraShape ceramic baguettes. These ceramic facade systems are maintenance-free and offer generous credible warranty periods with an expected design life of over 50 years.
KeraTwin Facade Panels
With over 100 different colours and finishes to choose from, KeraTwin facade panels present engineers, developments, designers, and architects with unlimited technical and aesthetic versatility and huge design freedom. These high-quality stoneware ceramic panels are available in various colours, formats, and surface profiles.
Colours & Finishes
The KeraTwin panels are available in a wide range of colours and finishes, offering over 100 different colour options, including a range of gloss colours and glazed stain matt, concrete, metallic, stone, timber, and unglazed colours.
The SpectraView series which was developed by renowned European colour designer Peter Zoernack is composed of nine delicately coordinated uniform glazed satin matt colour families, including cream, apricot, pink, green, yellow, blue, grey, neutral grey, and salmon red, as well as 10 vibrant matt and gloss contrasting colours.
The Natural Unglazed series is a collection of 15 natural earthy tones that resembles the classic colours of a terracotta panel but in a more durable and maintenance-free ceramic stoneware material.
The Design Unglazed series on the other hand is a series of specifically manufactured sets of 4-panel colours with a slightly heavier surface texture. The golden cream, golden anthracite, golden red, and golden grey panels are interspersed with a fine golden fleck and offer designers an exclusive material. This completes the unglazed options across the range.
The KeraTwin colour options are completed by the Design Glazed range, including panel finishes in metallic, concrete, timber, metal, and stone finishes.
Surface Profiles
This includes the traditional smooth panel and the three-dimensional reliefs provided by another 10 different profiles, which includes the “positive” grooved, “negative” grooved, irregular grooved, stripy, new wave, sine wave, and brushed profiles as well as the newly released Canyon and Kaijo profiles.
Panel Formats
The Extruded Stoneware Panels are available in a range of standard heights from 150mm – 600mm and panel lengths custom manufactured for each project at 1mm increments up to a maximum of 1800mm. The largest panel size is 1800x600mm due to technical reasons.
KeraShape Ceramic Baguettes
KeraShape ceramic baguettes are a collection of glazed and unglazed stoneware ceramic tubular “baguettes” that offer architects a wide range of options to incorporate three-dimensional screening elements into a facade design. It is available in square, elliptical, and rectangular lamellar profiles in 70 different colours from the Natura and Spectraview colour series.
KeraShape can be used either as a standalone facade or as facade elements in combination with KeraTwin Panels, glazing, and other surface treatments.
What are the Benefits of Ceramic Facade Architecture?
Aside from the wide range of design options that ceramic facade architecture offers, it also provides all the benefits that come with using a sustainable material:
- Free of heavy metals and other dangerous additives
- Provides optimum sound and thermal insulation
- Non-combustible
- Environment-friendly. Made from natural raw materials, recyclable and produced sustainably
- Highly durable. Can withstand extreme weather conditions.
- Low maintenance
- Colourfast technology. Can last a lifetime.
Consider Ceramic Tile Facades for Aesthetically Pleasing Design
Whether you want to revamp an old building and give it a new look or wish to make it stand out with a modern design, a ceramic tile facade is a perfect solution. If you prefer to have a home with a traditional look, ceramic tile facades can help enhance its natural beauty.
Ceramic tile facades come in a wide variety of colours, form, and finish, allowing designers and builders to create any facade design they want. Ceramics offer an attractive and distinct facade that can withstand the test of time. From modern minimalist and industrial look to more outrageously and artistic designs, a ceramic tile facade can help you achieve an aesthetically pleasing exterior.
Non-Combustible Facades
All medium and high rise buildings must have non-combustible facades. A building facade is at risk from either a fire inside the building or from a nearby object or building, making flammable facades a no-no. Flammable facades can contribute to the spread of fire at a much quicker pace, which can endanger the lives of more people and cause greater damage to the building.
In contrast, if the building has a non-combustible facade, even if the fire reaches the window of the floor above, the spread of fire would be relatively slower as the facade wouldn’t contribute to the spread of fire.
Contact KLAY for More Information About Ceramic Facade Systems
KLAY is Australia’s supplier of Agrob Buchtal ceramic facade systems. We offer an extensive portfolio of products and services for traditional and modern domestic and industrial design with ceramics.
If you want to know more about the products we offer or need help with facade design, contact us now and one of our sales representatives will be happy to assist you. Likewise, we can make sales visits if it is more convenient for you.
KeraTwin and KeraShape For Energy Efficient Facades
If you are looking for energy efficient facades, you will want to check out the KeraTwin and KeraShape ceramic facade systems. They have thermal insulation, which helps maintain the temperature inside the building and is also UV-resistant, protecting the building from direct heat from the sun.
They are both manufactured with Agrob Buchtal’s revolutionary Hytect surface technology. This technology provides a unique material that is anti-bacterial, anti-graffiti, and self-cleaning. The materials used for both systems are 100% non-combustible and maintenance-free.
KeraTwin and KeraShape ceramic facade systems are not only energy-efficient but also cost-effective, making them perfect options for all your facade needs.
