Exterior Cladding and Facades for Commercial Buildings
10 January 2023
Shane Barker, Business Development Manager
In this article, Shane Barker breaks down the most common types of roof and wall cladding for commercial buildings.
Steelcorp offers a variety of roof and wall cladding profiles for commercial and rural buildings, including classic COLORBOND® cladding and other well-known products from Australian manufacturers Stramit and Lysaght.
Each of these types of wall cladding offers a different aesthetic finish and different lapping or joining abilities. When it comes to designing your structure, our team will walk you through the options and make recommendations based on your unique design parameters.
Whilst we aim to always offer you the widest choice of materials, there may be reasons why we recommend a certain cladding for your structure over other options. Factors such as roof pitch, structure size, and the spacing of purlins and girts can have a bearing on the best type of cladding for your commercial building.
CONTENTS
Commercial Wall Cladding Systems
Stramit Monoclad® Roof and Wall Cladding
With a solid and economical profile, Stramit Monoclad cladding is one of our most popular finishes and is ideal for industrial or agricultural buildings. Its silhouette features a flat, wide valley with 29mm angled ribs, providing excellent spanning and water-carrying capacity.
Suitable for 2 degree minimum roof pitches, a compatible lap joint system is also available to allow for single-plane, long-run roofs. Take a look at the Monoclad roof on our structure for Geelong Racing Club, or this multi-tenant commercial building in Geelong.
Lysaght Trimdek® Wall Cladding
This versatile roof and wall cladding features bold, trapezoidal ribs and subtle fluting in the pans. Trimdek is Ideal for commercial, industrial and residential buildings and is available in long spans, allowing wide support spacing on roof slopes from a minimum of 2°.
Stramit® Corrugated Roof and Wall Cladding
Corrugated sheets offer a traditional Australian profile and can be used to suit a variety of applications. It can be used as a versatile wall cladding that brings architectural features to life, or as a classic and durable roof material.
With 16mm corrugated waves, corrugated cladding can be used in conjunction with insulation to deliver a strong, comfortable and great-looking structure.
Lysaght Custom Orb®
Stramit Speed Deck Ultra® Concealed Fixed Decking
Lysaght Klip-Lok® Roofing and Walling Profile
A roofing and walling profile with a strong rib. Klip-Lok cladding makes a bold statement, rising from flat pans with longitudinal fluting offering long, straight lines and a crisp and clean finish.
It features concealed fixed for excellent water tightness and suits roof pitches as low as 1 degree.
Stramit Longspan® Roof and Wall Cladding
The long spans and striking lines of Longspan cladding provide economical and versatile designs for your structure.
This type of cladding offers architectural flexibility to accommodate curved roofs and suits roof pitches as low as 3 degrees. It is suitable for both roof and wall cladding.
Lysaght Spandek®
With a modern and simple profile, this square-corrugated roof and wall cladding is strong, impact resistant and ideal for commercial applications. Spandek features bold ribs which offer high strength and high water-carrying capacity and suits minimum roof slopes as low as two degrees.
Stramit CapacityPLUS™ 660 Deep Roof Cladding
Excellent water drainage and wind load performance make this profile the perfect choice for large roof areas.
Its 50mm ribs improve weather tightness and water-carrying capacity, and the rigid profile makes CapacityPLUS ideal for long spans. It is suitable for roof pitches as low as 1 degree for many applications.
Stramit K-Panel®
A wide cover cladding, K-Panel® Wall Sheeting has a lower profile making it ideal for smaller buildings. The 12mm rib profile facilitates smaller flashings for small projects, and it’s relatively quick and easy to install using conventional hex fasteners.
K-Panel® isn’t suitable for roofing, but it offers an attractive and robust wall cladding for storage sheds, partition walls and smaller domestic structures.
Lysaght Multiclad®
An attractive trapezoidal multi-ribbed profile, Multiclad’s ribs can run vertically or horizontally.
Like K-Panel, it is lightweight and quick to install but is not as strong as other profiles, making it best used for garages, carports and sheds.
External Wall Cladding for Special Facades
Specialist cladding can add architectural flair to your design, with products such as Stramit Monopanel®, SharpLine®, Mini Corry® Panelling and AvantaLine™ Architectural Wall Cladding adding texture and interest to your structure.
All Cladding Available in COLORBOND® colours
Each of the above profiles is available in either COLORBOND® or ZINCALUME® finish, and with dozens of colours to choose from, you can rest assured there’s a shade to match your environment (or make your building stand out from the rest). COLORBOND® finishes offer high performance and excellent corrosion resistance to help your structure maintain its quality appearance for many years.
Alternatively, ZINCALUME® cladding offers a cheaper option that provides a tough, scratch-resistant coating and a durable, industrial-looking finish.
“Combining the strength of steel with creative finishes, these cladding options can really elevate your building and can be used to great effect on entrances and building features like fins and facades," notes Shane.
- Shane Barker, Business Development Manager
Get the Right Cladding for Your Project
The Steelcorp team is here to help with advice on choosing the right cladding and finishes for your structure. Give Shane or our friendly sales team a call to discuss your commercial building project.
