Splice plan agreed with the architect and yard
Splice positions placed on the panel joints as designed. Confirmed the joints landed where the architect wanted, and where the yard's demoulding equipment could clear them.
Project record · Precast wall panel programme
A precast yard's textured wall panel formliner.
A residential precast programme needed a textured formliner across a run of large wall panels. Silicone tooling spliced at the panel joints, sized for the yard's standard bed, delivered with a lifting frame.
The brief
The brief in one paragraph.
A UK precast yard had won a residential programme with textured wall panels across the elevations. The panels were larger than the yard's standard formliner size and the architect had specified a bespoke texture that included fine relief. The programme needed to run through the yard over roughly six months.
The problem
The problem was splice invisibility and yard handling.
The panels were 4.2 metres by 3.0 metres — larger than a single silicone pour could reasonably cover. The tool had to be spliced. The architect wanted a continuous texture reading across the elevation, which meant the splices had to fall on panel joints and be invisible there.
There was also a handling question. The yard was set up for standard-sized formliners and didn't have handling equipment for a tool of this size. Lifting improperly would have damaged the tool on pour three.
How we solved it
How we approached it.
Silicone tooling with matched splices
Multi-piece silicone tool built from a single master pattern, so every splice segment came off the same reference geometry. Splice edges machined for crisp alignment.
Lifting frame supplied with the tool
Bespoke lifting frame designed to spread the load across the full formliner. Yard team briefed and trained on the lifting sequence.
First-off with architect and yard
First panel poured with the architect and yard team present. Splice reading, texture consistency and panel quality all approved on the bed.
Ongoing programme support
Yard team have our direct line for any question during the programme. One release-regime tweak flagged mid-programme and resolved same-week.
The outcome
How it worked out.
The programme has been running successfully. The splices are reading invisibly on the finished panels; the tool life is on target; the yard team is confident with the handling. When the programme runs its course, a replacement tool will be built from the same master pattern to keep the elevation reading consistent across any late additions.
Lessons
What we'd tell the next person with this problem.
For any large-format formliner programme, treat the lifting equipment and yard handling as part of the tool spec — not as the yard's problem to solve. A tool delivered without a plan for how it will be lifted safely is a tool that will be damaged in the first month.
Related
Read another job.
At a glance
The idea in a picture.
Where the formliner sits
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Get in touch
Send us a photograph of the panel or the elevation.
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