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Architecture vocabulary · Materials and Construction

Cladding

Meaning in architecture, with examples

/ˈklædɪŋ/nounCommon term

In architecture, cladding means: The outer layer of material fixed to a building's walls to protect it from the weather and give it its appearance, such as stone, metal panels, timber or ceramic.

In Turkish: cephe kaplaması, kaplama

How it is used

Architects choose, specify and detail cladding; it is fixed to a subframe and is often ventilated behind. The verb is 'clad': 'The building is clad in copper'. The fire safety of cladding materials is a major issue in building codes.

Example sentences

  1. We're proposing terracotta cladding to relate to the brick houses nearby.

  2. The cladding panels arrived damaged, so the contractor sent them back.

Common collocations

  • facade cladding
  • timber cladding
  • metal cladding
  • cladding panels
  • clad in stone
  • facadeAn outer face of a building, especially the front or the side facing a street, considered as a whole with its windows, materials and details.
  • curtain wallA thin outer wall, usually of glass and aluminium, that hangs from the building's structure and keeps out the weather but carries no floor or roof loads.
  • thermal insulationMaterial such as mineral wool, polystyrene or wood fibre placed in walls, roofs and floors to slow down heat passing into or out of a building.
  • brickA small rectangular block of fired clay used to build walls; bricks are laid in mortar in regular patterns called bonds.
  • timberWood prepared for building, used for structures, floors, cladding, windows and furniture; engineered products like cross-laminated timber are used in multi-storey buildings.

More terms: Materials and Construction

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