The effect of form

Two aspects of steel cladding inform the appearance of a façade – colour and texture as already discussed, and the form imparted by the profile and the various jointing strategies which can be employed to break up large expanses.

Pre-finished steel cladding is available in a variety of profiles or cross-sections of the steel sheet. At one extreme the cladding can be perfectly flat, whilst the introduction of profile can be in various forms from the standard trapezoidal peaks and troughs to more specialist feature profiles such as half-round or sawtooth protrusions. The type, size and orientation of the profile can have a significant effect on the final look of the building, while with flat-panel and minimal profiles it is the jointing strategy which imparts the character.

The combination of colour, texture and profile can give rise to some unique effects. For example when metallic paint effects are used on a curved or half-round profile, the metallic flakes in the paint follow the curve, imparting a distinct shimmer to the surface. Through an extensive network of system manufacturers, Colorcoat® products are available in a wide variety of profile options.

Using horizontal and vertical colour banding or a profile panel arrangement, it is possible to perceptually stretch a façade and change its apparent shape. Examples of this are horizontal bands which reduce the apparent height of a building and vertical bands reducing the apparent breadth.

Jointing of panels can also create dramatic visual effects, especially on a large, expansive elevation. Jointing strategies usually rely on the interface between the cladding and the sub-frame, and must often take into account the inclusion of fenestration. Trapezoidal profiles tend to overlap to provide a seamless façade, but architectural wall and façade panels usually necessitate both horizontal and vertical joints which can be used to form a matrix-type appearance. Stretching this matrix in one dimension or the other has the effect of stretching the visual perception of the building. When trying to break down a large elevation, false jointing can also be used to give the impression of smaller panels, tricking the mind into perceiving a smaller building mass.