Fibre Reinforced Facade Encyclopedia: Materials
Exterior wall panels are prefabricated units that form the outer wall of a building, either carrying load as part of the structure or hung from it as an applied skin. The category runs from 200 mm load-bearing precast concrete at 500 kilograms per square metre to a 3 mm moulded composite skin at 5 kilograms per square metre, and the choice between them is usually settled by three questions: what the panel has to carry, what the structure can carry, and what the fire provisions allow.
Changing from precast concrete to a glass fibre reinforced concrete skin on the same elevation removes roughly 300 kilograms per square metre of facade dead load. On a 20,000 square metre facade that is 6,000 tonnes out of the structure and the foundations.
At a glance
| Property | Typical value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Precast concrete, 100 to 200 mm | 250 to 500 kg/m² | Can be load-bearing; crane and transport governed |
| Architectural precast, thin panel | 150 to 250 kg/m² | Non-load-bearing, storey height units |
| Ultra high performance concrete | 60 to 110 kg/m² | 20 to 40 mm sections, self-supporting |
| Glass fibre reinforced concrete | 30 to 50 kg/m² | ShapeShell-RC published range |
| Terracotta rainscreen | 35 to 60 kg/m² | Including rail substructure |
| Fibre cement sheet | 12 to 30 kg/m² | Flat or gently curved only |
| Fibre reinforced polymer | 5 to 32 kg/m² | ShapeShell-RT published range |
| Aluminium composite and solid aluminium | 7 to 15 kg/m² | Excluding substructure |
| Typical panel span | One storey, 3.0 to 4.2 m | Spanning slab to slab or fixed to a frame |
Load-bearing against applied
A load-bearing exterior wall panel carries vertical load from the floors and roof above it and usually acts as part of the lateral system. Precast concrete panels used this way are designed to AS 3600 and AS 3850, are tied into the diaphragm at each level, and cannot be changed late in a project without structural consequences.
An applied panel carries only its own weight and the wind pressure on its face, and delivers both back to the structure through brackets at defined points. Every panel family other than structural precast falls into this second group. The distinction decides who owns the design, how the panel is supported, how much movement it has to accommodate at every joint, and whether replacing a damaged unit is a facade job or a structural one.
The panel families
- Precast and architectural precast concrete: heavy, robust, structural if wanted, restricted to what a crane and a truck can handle
- Ultra high performance concrete: much thinner sections and long spans, at higher unit cost and tighter production tolerance
- Glass fibre reinforced concrete: 10 to 20 mm cementitious skin, moulded geometry, non-combustible where tested to AS 1530.1
- Fibre reinforced polymer: the lightest moulded option, deepest relief and largest single elements, an organic matrix with a reaction to fire pathway
- Fibre cement, terracotta, metal and laminate sheet: flat rainscreen products, fast and economical, limited in form
- Glazed and unitised curtain wall: a separate discipline, usually interfacing with one or more of the above at spandrel level
Geometry is the usual discriminator once weight and fire are settled. Flat elevations are cheapest in sheet. Curved, folded, perforated or deeply modelled elevations are cheapest in a moulded material, because complexity is carried by the mould rather than by the panel.
How weight moves through the project
Facade dead load is not a facade cost. It sizes columns, transfer structures, cores and footings, and on a tall building it compounds through every level below. It also sets the crane class, the number of lifts, the road permits and the site sequence. A lighter panel of the same area often costs more per square metre and less per project.
On recladding it is frequently decisive. An existing structure designed for one facade weight may have no spare capacity for another, which is why lightweight cladding and moulded composite skins dominate remediation work. The dead load and lightweight cladding entries set out how the calculation is framed.
The regulatory frame in Australia
Under NCC 2022 Volume One (check the edition adopted in your jurisdiction), external walls and any attachment to them in Type A and Type B construction must be non-combustible under the Deemed to Satisfy provisions, with the specific concessions set out in Specification 7. A cementitious panel tested to AS 1530.1 with a Not Deemed Combustible result satisfies that directly. A polymer based panel does not, and requires a Performance Solution supported by full scale facade testing to AS 5113, plus the reaction to fire evidence that goes with it.
Interfaces and tolerance
Most facade failures are interface failures. The panel meets the slab edge, the window head, the soffit, the parapet and the adjacent trade, and each of those junctions has its own tolerance, its own movement and its own water path. Structural tolerance is coarser than panel tolerance, so a bracket system with adjustment in three axes is not optional.
Set the weather line early and keep it continuous: face sealed, drained and back ventilated, or fully rainscreened with a drained cavity. Mixing approaches on one elevation is how water gets in. The rainscreen, panel fixing systems, movement joints and installation entries cover the detailing.
Standards and references
- NCC 2022 Volume One, Specification 7 and the external wall provisions
- AS/NZS 1170.2 Structural design actions: wind actions
- AS 4284 Testing of building facades
- AS 3600 Concrete structures and AS 3850 Prefabricated concrete elements
- AS 1530.1 combustibility and AS 5113 full scale facade fire test
- AS 1170.4 earthquake actions, for facade attachment and inter-storey drift
Where this matters on a ShapeShift project
One Sydney Harbour, Barangaroo: A high rise residential tower where the external wall provisions and a three-dimensional moulded facade had to be satisfied at the same time.
Related terms
Questions specifiers ask
What is the difference between an exterior wall panel and a cladding panel?
An exterior wall panel may form the wall itself, including a load-bearing one. A cladding panel is always an applied outer skin over a wall behind it. In practice the terms overlap, so the useful question is whether the panel carries building load or only its own weight and wind.
How much does an exterior wall panel weigh?
From about 5 kilograms per square metre for a thin composite skin to 500 kilograms per square metre for 200 mm precast concrete. Glass fibre reinforced concrete sits at 30 to 50 and fibre cement sheet at 12 to 30.
Do exterior wall panels have to be non-combustible?
In Australia, external walls of Type A and Type B construction must be non-combustible under the Deemed to Satisfy provisions of NCC 2022 Volume One. A combustible panel can still be used through a Performance Solution supported by a full scale AS 5113 test on the assembly.
What panel size is practical?
Transport and craneage usually govern. Road transport without escort caps width near 2.5 metres, and lifting weight caps area for heavy materials. A light composite panel can be produced as a single element several metres across because weight is not the constraint.
Can exterior wall panels be replaced individually?
Only if the fixing system was designed for it. Hook-on rail and undercut anchor systems generally allow a single panel to be removed; cast-in structural precast does not. Decide this at design stage, because it governs remediation cost for the life of the building.
Comparing panel systems on weight, geometry and fire evidence? We manufacture in FRP, GRC and GRG and can model the facade dead load for each. Use the facade calculators
Reviewed by Richard Halvorsen, General Manager, ShapeShift Technologies. Last updated September 2026.