Terracotta Cladding Panel — Baguettes and Tiles

Terracotta cladding is extruded and fired clay, made as hollow rainscreen panels hung on aluminium rails or as solid or hollow baguette rods used for shading. Its colour comes from the clay body and the firing rather than a coating, so it does not chalk or fade, and fired clay is classified A1 non-combustible under EN 13501-1.

By Dhruv Agarwal · · 2 min read

What it is

Extruded and fired clay, produced as hollow-section rainscreen panels or as solid baguette rods. Panels hang on horizontal aluminium rails within a ventilated cavity; baguettes clip into vertical or horizontal carriers in front of the facade line.

The colour comes from the clay body and the firing, not from a coating.

Specification at a glance

PropertyTypical specification
ProductExtruded hollow panel, or solid / hollow baguette
Panel thickness18mm — 30mm typical for hollow sections
Fire classA1, non-combustible, to EN 13501-1
FinishNatural, engobe, or glazed
FixingAluminium rail with clips; concealed
Water absorptionLow; specified by product to EN 1304 family methods

Why it gets specified

Permanent colour. A fired clay body does not chalk or fade. On buildings where facade access for recoating is difficult or expensive, this is the strongest argument for the material.

Genuine depth. The extruded section gives a shadow line and surface relief that flat panels reproduce only graphically.

Solar control without losing the view. Baguette arrays cut direct gain on east and west elevations while remaining visually open — relevant on Indian elevations where the sun is low enough that overhangs do little.

What drives the cost

Panel format and section depth · finish, with glazed costing more than natural or engobe · panel size and the number of special shapes such as corners, reveals and closers · rail and clip system · baguette length and support spacing · handling and breakage allowance · building height and access.

Terracotta sits above ACP and HPL, and typically below natural stone.

Where projects go wrong

  • Support spacing set by appearance. Baguette spans and panel rail spacing follow from the wind pressure for that building under IS 875 Part 3, not from what looks even on an elevation drawing.
  • No breakage allowance. Fired clay chips at corners in transit and handling. Order and programme should assume it.
  • Special shapes ordered late. Corners, reveals and closers are extruded to order with their own lead time; leaving them to site measurement delays the whole elevation.
  • Cavity barriers omitted because the panel is non-combustible. The panel is not the assembly.

Standards referenced

Reaction-to-fire classification to EN 13501-1. Clay product requirements in the EN 1304 family. Wind loading on cladding and its supports to IS 875 (Part 3).

Standards referenced

  • EN 13501-1 — Reaction to fire classification (CEN-CENELEC)
  • EN 1304 — Clay roofing and cladding products (CEN-CENELEC)
  • IS 875 (Part 3) — Wind loads on buildings (Bureau of Indian Standards)

Frequently asked

Because the colour is the fired clay body, not a coating applied to it. There is no paint film to chalk, fade or need recoating, so a terracotta elevation looks substantially the same after twenty years as it did on handover. On a building intended to hold its appearance for decades without facade maintenance access, that changes the whole-life cost calculation.

Fired clay is classified A1, non-combustible, under EN 13501-1, which makes the panel itself uncontroversial in a fire submission. As with any rainscreen the assembly still needs cavity barriers at every compartment line and non-combustible insulation, because the ventilated cavity behind the panel is a fire path regardless of what the panel is made from.

Baguettes are extruded solid or hollow rods fixed horizontally or vertically in front of glazing, acting as solar shading and visual screening while keeping the view out. They are widely used on east and west elevations in India, where low-angle sun defeats a horizontal overhang and a vertical fin array does the shading work instead.

Related

More in Materials

All Materials →

Planning an office or commercial project?

Tell us what you are planning. Message our team on WhatsApp, call us, or leave your number and we will call you back.

Chat on WhatsAppCall +91 88829 10969

Request a callback