Terracotta Cladding Panel — Baguettes and Tiles

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

Property	Typical specification
Product	Extruded hollow panel, or solid / hollow baguette
Panel thickness	18mm — 30mm typical for hollow sections
Fire class	A1, non-combustible, to EN 13501-1
Finish	Natural, engobe, or glazed
Fixing	Aluminium rail with clips; concealed
Water absorption	Low; 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).