close up of protruding red Corium brick tiles and buff Corium brick tiles in a pattern

How can 3D design features elevate facade schemes?

The ultimate ambition of an architect – and the ultimate test of a building product’s design versatility – is creating something that has never been seen before. This can be achieved through combining traditions and new trends, and reshaping not just the look of a building, but people’s experience of it.

Wienerberger’s Corium and SVK external cladding materials open up this exploratory, experimental space in which architects can redefine the possibilities of facade design. A simple building structure can be aesthetically elevated through intelligent and expressive application of architectural cladding products

A trend we’ve seen in past projects featuring Corium brick tile cladding or SVK fibre cement facade panels has been the inclusion of three-dimensional elements or sculpture to build a truly unique facade scheme. We’ve chosen five of our favourite projects to serve as inspiration for how Wienerberger Facades products can be used to create innovative and memorable architecture.

Branching Out

Let’s start out small by taking a closer look at how 3D wall cladding can be used on just one area of a building facade to create a piece of bespoke statement art.

This multi-dimensional tree artwork was designed by H3 Architects for Markham Place, a residential and commercial development in the Ashfield suburb of Sydney, Australia. With Corium brick cladding supplied by PGH Bricks & Pavers, YTO Construction were able to construct a tree design that would have been difficult to achieve with traditional masonry.

Against a clean canvas of white brick cladding tiles in a stack bond, Corium tiles in a range of bright shades and sizes were used to form the tree, with darker tones giving the illusion of shadow. To add further dimensionality to the piece, selected tiles protrude from the surface. Perspex brick tiles containing LED lights transform the facade when night falls.

Corium was the ideal product choice for taking on this exterior cladding challenge as the brick tiles could be easily manipulated into position on the steel rail to create the desired tree design before being mortared and fixed in place.

close up of Corium brick cladding tree artwork

Creating Pattern

Protruding brickwork is a relatively simple technique to achieve with Corium cladding, without the structural considerations that you would find with traditional masonry thanks to the supporting rail system.

In contrast to the tree design, three-dimensional brickwork surfaces can be applied on a larger scale to create a distinctive motif that can be carried through an entire vertical cladding scheme, such as on the Cambridge Mosque project. This award-winning mosque - the first to be nominated for the Stirling Prize in history - was designed by Marks Barfield Architects, with the Corium system supplied by our UK partner Taylor Maxwell and installed by Clarke Facades.

Throughout the building’s full facade, protruding red brick tile headers were used as accents against a contrasting light buff brick tile base. These formations created Islamic patterns and words, successfully blending traditional design with a modern architectural aesthetic to create a community space with its own signature look.

Corium brick tile cladding motif pattern in mosque

Embracing Geometry

Stepping away from the world of brick cladding, three-dimensional design elements such as raised and retreating sections can also be achieved using SVK fibre cement cladding panels.

In a popular holiday destination such as Protaras in Cyprus with many luxury high-rise hotels vying for attention, how do you ensure that your hotel stands out from the crowd during both the day and night? An eye-catching facade design is the answer.

The Cavo Zoe hotel used SVK Puro Plus fibre cement cladding panels to achieve a premium aesthetic which reflected their sleek and stylish brand identity. A 3D geometric pattern was created through triangular panels, with some protruding and set back to allow for lighting installation which makes the structure come alive at night. The addition of solid and slatted wooden panels gives the project warmth and a contemporary mixed material appeal.

Grey Puro Plus facade panels in geormetric pattern on a hotel building

Nature as a Feature

A simple concept, well executed, often has the biggest impact when it comes to rainscreen cladding design. In this case, rectangular SVK Ornimat fibre cement panels in White were stacked one of top of the other to provide a modern, clinical aesthetic for Gelderse Vallei Hospital in Ede, The Netherlands.

The intelligent 3D design work on this project comes where the orderly grid effect created by the SVK panels is disrupted by a cut-out section with curves than suggest a mountainous landscape. Within this contrasting cut-out zone, climbing greenery has been planted. By adding this element of contemporary biophilic design, the architect has created an unexpected connection to the natural environment which contributes to a healthy built environment and increases the feeling of wellbeing among the building’s users.

From a practical point of view, SVK panels are easy to clean so lighter coloured panels such as these keep their fresh look, which is so vital to the design concept.

white SVK cladding panels on a modern hospital building with cut out section and greenery

white SVK cladding panels on a modern hospital building

Architectural Florals

Another striking Dutch hospital project using SVK fibre cement cladding boards integrated botanicals into their facade scheme, but via a completely different treatment.

During the renovation of a wing at Westfriesgasthuis Hospital in Hoon, de Jong Gortemaker Algra Architects employed the skills of artist Tijs Rooijakkers to create a giant 3D floral sculpture for a ventilated rainscreen elevation.

Both vertically and horizontally orientated rectangular SVK Puro Plus fibre cement panels were arranged to create a lively backdrop for the flower and its floating petals. The sculpture is made of coated stainless steel which blends in beautifully with the Puro Plus panels in dry weather, but when it rains the steel shines as if the flower is in bloom.

Puro Plus panels are similarly responsive to the elements and natural environment, with unique colour variations created on these uncoated panels over time thanks to how the weather interacts with the material.