Small trial mould from the architect's drawing
A 600mm square trial mould cast in silicone from the architect's original depth. First sample panel cast in the manufacturer's face-mix.
Project record · Bespoke cladding relief
A cladding manufacturer's rope-effect panel mould.
A GRC manufacturer's architect wanted rope-effect cladding across a residential façade. Three sample rounds off a trial mould got the visual right before the matched production set was built.
The brief
The brief in one paragraph.
A UK GRC manufacturer had won a residential façade job where the architect had specified a rope-effect relief across the panels. The architect had drawn the rope pattern in reasonable detail but had never seen it cast in concrete. The manufacturer wanted to develop the texture as a small sample first, before committing to matched production tooling for the full elevation.
The problem
The problem was reading the rope depth right.
Rope relief drawn in a 2D elevation view doesn't always translate. Draw it too shallow and the rope reads as a scratch. Draw it too deep and the shadows dominate and the panel reads as busy from ground level. The architect had drawn the rope at a depth that would have looked wrong on the finished façade — but no one knew that until we cast a sample.
There was also an undercut concern. Deep rope relief creates classic undercut geometry as each rope segment loops over. Silicone can flex past it, but the depth affects the pour count achievable from a single tool.
How we solved it
How we approached it.
First sample review with the architect
Architect saw the sample panel in daylight and agreed the rope was reading too deep. Shadow was dominating; the rope pattern was hard to read at any distance.
Second sample at 60% depth
Pattern adjusted to reduce the rope depth by around 40%. Second sample cast. Architect and manufacturer agreed the reading was much better but the top of the rope had lost some crispness.
Third sample with refined profile
Depth held at 60% but the rope cross-section adjusted to sharpen the crown. Third sample cast. Architect signed off in writing on the sample panel.
Matched production set
Six matched production tools cast from the same signed pattern, splice positions co-ordinated across the elevation. First-off with architect and client present at the manufacturer's yard.
The outcome
How it worked out.
The full elevation is now in production and running through the manufacturer's yard on programme. The three sample rounds took roughly three weeks and added modest cost to the tooling programme; without them, the architect would have discovered the depth problem after the production tooling was built, which would have been a much more expensive re-do.
Lessons
What we'd tell the next person with this problem.
Sample panels first, always. Any custom relief that hasn't been cast before in the specified face-mix and pigment should get at least one sample round before production tooling is committed. It's the cheapest insurance in the process.
At a glance
The idea in a picture.
Planning liners across a wall
Swipe to see the whole diagram
Get in touch
Send us a photograph of the panel or the elevation.
One photograph tells us what surface you're chasing, and one line about the mix tells us what silicone or polyurethane will survive it.
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You deal with the people who make it.
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