There are seven cladding panel materials in common use on Australian commercial facades, and the choice is usually settled by elimination rather than by preference. Fire compliance removes options first, the structure’s dead load allowance removes more, geometry removes more again, and only then does cost decide between what is left. This page compares all seven honestly, including the cases where ShapeShift’s own materials are the wrong answer.
The seven options at a glance
Cost bands below are relative to each other for a typical mid-rise commercial facade, not quoted rates. The installed cost of any of these is driven far more by how the facade is drawn than by the material rate.
To put numbers against this table, compare weights and embodied carbon for your own panel area.
| Material | Weight | Fire | Curvature | Lead time | Cost band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GRC, glass reinforced concrete | Low for a cementitious panel | Non-combustible to AS 1530.1 | Excellent, including double curvature | Mould driven | Medium |
| FRP, fibre reinforced polymer | Lowest | Polymer composite, reaction to fire assessed | Excellent, holds the sharpest detail | Mould driven | Medium to high |
| GRG, glass reinforced gypsum | Low | Gypsum, interior use only | Excellent | Mould driven | Medium |
| Aluminium composite | Very low | Core dependent, and the reason for Australia’s cladding rectification programmes | Folded and curved within limits | Short for stock products | Low to medium |
| Fibre cement | Low to medium | Non-combustible | Flat sheet, effectively none | Short, often stocked | Low |
| Precast concrete | Highest | Non-combustible, can carry an FRL | Possible but expensive | Mould and cure driven | Medium to high |
| Terracotta rainscreen | Medium | Non-combustible | Modular, limited | Often imported, longer | High |
GRC, glass reinforced concrete
A cement and fine aggregate matrix reinforced with alkali-resistant glass fibre, typically 10 to 25 mm thick, known internationally as GFRC. It reads as concrete or stone, is non-combustible when tested to AS 1530.1, and takes any mouldable geometry including double curvature, deep relief and perforation.
Where it wins: external facades that need a masonry or concrete appearance without the mass, curved and modelled elevations, weight-constrained towers and retrofits, planters and wet-area elements, and anywhere the wall must be non-combustible.
Where it loses: flat repetitive elevations at high volume where fibre cement is cheaper, loadbearing or fire separating walls where precast is the correct material, and very fine sculptural detail at small scale where FRP holds the edge better. See ShapeShell-RC.
FRP, fibre reinforced polymer
Glass reinforcement fabrics in a thermoset resin matrix, manufactured by vacuum infusion. It is the lightest of the seven by a clear margin and holds the crispest arrises and thinnest returns.
Where it wins: sculptural and public art elements, long unsupported spans, cantilevered features, and retrofits where even GRC exceeds the dead load allowance.
Where it loses: any external wall that has to be non-combustible. FRP has a polymer matrix, so non-combustibility is not the applicable measure and the compliance route is different. Do not substitute it into a GRC specification on the strength of a GRC fire report. See ShapeShell-RT and the material fire rating page.
GRG, glass reinforced gypsum
Gypsum with chopped glass fibre, cast into moulds. It gives the finest surface of any material here and is designed so joints disappear into a continuous plaster finish.
Where it wins: interior ceilings, bulkheads, curved soffits and feature walls in dry areas.
Where it loses: outside, and in wet areas. Specifying GRG externally is the most common substitution error in the fibre reinforced family. See ShapeShell-RG, and FRP vs GRC vs GRG for the full comparison.
Aluminium composite panel
Two thin aluminium skins bonded to a core. The material is very light, quick to fabricate and folds crisply, which is why it was specified so widely.
Where it wins: lightweight feature cladding and soffits where a compliant core is used and the fire evidence is in order.
Where it loses: this is the category behind Australia’s cladding rectification programmes. Combustible polyethylene-cored panels have been the subject of bans, audits and mandated replacement across Australian jurisdictions, and the evidence burden on any aluminium composite product in an external wall is now substantial. Mineral-core products remain in use, but a specifier proposing aluminium composite should expect to justify it in a way that a cementitious panel does not require.
Fibre cement
Cement with cellulose or other fibre, pressed into flat sheet, typically thinner than GRC. Non-combustible, widely stocked, and the cheapest credible option in this list.
Where it wins: flat repetitive elevations, tight budgets, short programmes, and rainscreen applications where the design does not need relief or curvature.
Where it loses: anything curved or modelled, deep reveals and returns, and projects where the facade is meant to read as concrete or stone rather than as sheet.
Precast concrete
Steel reinforced concrete elements, typically 100 mm and up. It is the heaviest option and the only one here that can be structural.
Where it wins: loadbearing walls, walls needing a fire resistance level in their own right, heavy civil elements, mass and acoustic performance, and flat repetitive elevations at volume where mould economics favour thick panels.
Where it loses: weight-constrained towers, retrofits over existing structure, complex geometry, and sites with restricted crane access. The detailed comparison is in GRC vs precast concrete panels.
Terracotta rainscreen
Extruded and fired clay tiles or baguettes on a rail system. Non-combustible, with a distinctive natural colour range and a long service life.
Where it wins: projects where the fired clay appearance is the design intent, and ventilated rainscreen build-ups.
Where it loses: curved and non-modular geometry, tight budgets, and short programmes, since products are frequently imported.
Fire: the constraint that eliminates options first
Since the cladding failures of the last decade, fire performance is the first filter on any Australian facade, not the last. Four of the seven materials here are cement, gypsum or clay based and are non-combustible or inherently fire resistant. Two are not: aluminium composite depends entirely on its core, and FRP has a polymer matrix.
Two principles hold whichever material is chosen. Compliance is assessed on the complete wall assembly, including backing wall, supports, insulation, cavity treatment, fixings, sealants and coatings, rather than on the panel alone. And the evidence that counts is the test report matched to the product actually supplied, with the sample description and date, not a claim in a brochure.
Weight: the cost nobody puts in the comparison
Comparing panel rates misses where the money moves. A lighter facade reduces the supporting steel, the size and number of fixings, the crane class and hire duration, the number of panels per truck and the rate of install. On a tower, halving facade mass changes four trades at once. On a retrofit over an existing structure, weight is frequently the constraint that decides whether the project can proceed at all, which is why the two lightest materials here dominate overclad work.
Curvature and geometry
Materials cast against a mould take whatever shape the mould holds, which puts GRC, FRP and GRG in one group and everything else in another. Fibre cement and terracotta are flat or modular. Aluminium composite folds and curves within defined limits. Precast can be curved but the mould cost rises sharply with the mass involved.
In every mouldable material the cost driver is the number of unique panel types rather than the area. Twenty panels off one mould is a different job from twenty panels off twenty moulds. Rationalising an elevation from thirty panel types to eight, without changing how the building reads, is the largest single cost reduction available, and it is only available early in design.
Lead time
Stocked products, principally fibre cement and some aluminium composite, are the fastest. Mouldable materials are paced by shop drawing approval and mould fabrication rather than by casting, so a compressed programme means building more moulds to hold the rate, which is a direct cost. Imported products carry shipping and customs on top. Where the programme is very tight and the geometry is simple, stock sizes remove the mould question: ShapeShift holds standard GRC facade panels in set sizes for that case.
Cost: why a rate per square metre misleads
The comparison that decides projects is the installed cost of the facade system, which is panel supply, supporting steel or framing sized for the dead load, fixings and their engineering, transport, cranage and lifting plant, installation labour and rate, the programme effect of how long crane and crew are on site, and whole-of-life maintenance including the cost of access to carry it out. Price those eight lines for two or three shortlisted materials on the actual elevation and the answer is usually unambiguous, and it is not always the cheapest panel.
A decision sequence that works
- Does the wall need to be non-combustible, or carry an FRL? This eliminates the most options and eliminates them fastest.
- What is the facade dead load allowance? Ask the structural engineer before shortlisting, not after.
- Is any part of the elevation curved, perforated or deeply modelled? If yes, the shortlist is the mouldable materials.
- How many unique panel types does the current design create? Reduce this before pricing anything.
- What access and crane time is available, and for how long? On constrained sites this decides the material more often than cost does.
Project evidence
Each material in the comparison above is in built work. These five span the range.
- Powerhouse Museum Parramatta: GRC with a mineral-loaded stone-like finish on a public cultural building.
- Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre: single skin panels using their own curvature for stiffness, across a colonnade and high-level veins.
- Queens Domain: 6,400 square metres of perimeter balustrade, where slab edge weight decides how many levels a building gets.
- Blacktown Exercise Sports and Technology Hub: GRC on an award-winning public facility.
- Swanston Square Apartment Tower: 411 unique double-curved panels forming a portrait, the limit case for non-repeating geometry.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best cladding material for an Australian facade?
There is no single best. For a non-combustible external wall with curvature or relief, GRC is usually the answer. For flat repetitive elevations on a budget, fibre cement. For loadbearing or fire separating walls, precast. For sculptural and weight-critical elements, FRP.
Is aluminium composite cladding banned in Australia?
Combustible polyethylene-cored aluminium composite panels have been the subject of bans, audits and mandated rectification across Australian jurisdictions. Mineral-core products remain available, but the evidence required to use any aluminium composite in an external wall is substantially heavier than for a cementitious panel. Confirm the current requirements in the relevant jurisdiction for your project.
What is the lightest cladding panel?
Of the materials here, FRP is the lightest, followed by aluminium composite, then GRC and fibre cement, with precast heaviest by a wide margin.
Which cladding panels can be curved?
The mouldable materials: GRC, FRP and GRG, all of which take single and double curvature as standard work. Aluminium composite curves within limits. Fibre cement and terracotta are flat or modular, and curved precast is possible but expensive.
How thick are external cladding panels?
It varies by material: GRC 10 to 25 mm, fibre cement typically thinner again, aluminium composite a few millimetres of sandwich, and precast 100 mm and up. Thickness is not a proxy for performance across different materials.
Getting an answer for a specific building
The fastest way to shortlist for a live project is to send the elevations, the compliance pathway and the structural dead load allowance rather than a request for a rate. ShapeShift’s engineers will come back on panel type rationalisation, fixing approach, fire evidence and programme, including where another material on this page would serve the project better. Start at contact, see built work by city at facade projects by location, or read what is GRC and GFRC panels: sizes, thickness, fixing and cost.
Terms explained
Short definitions of the terms on this page, in our facade materials encyclopedia.