System 10
Stone Dry Façade
Mechanically fixed natural stone
- Family
- Ventilated Dry Façades
- Typical use
- Premium ventilated cladding
- Relative weight
- Heavy
- Transparency
- None
Natural stone — travertine, granite, marble or limestone — carried on brackets, rails and anchors rather than bedded in mortar. Each slab is mechanically restrained and individually removable.
The safety argument is the strongest one. A mortar-bedded stone façade depends on an adhesive bond that ages, moves and eventually fails. A mechanically fixed slab does not rely on that bond at all.
Where it works
- Residential and office towers
- Hotels and hospitality
- Civic and institutional buildings
- Luxury villas
- Retail and commercial centres
- Stone façade replacement
Design notes
- 01
Stone selection and testing
Flexural strength and water absorption vary enormously between quarries. Anchor design follows the tested stone, not the stone type.
- 02
Anchor position
Kerf, undercut or pin fixings each impose their own minimum edge distances and slab thickness.
- 03
Movement and tolerance
Stone, the substructure and the building frame all move at different rates. Joint widths are designed for the difference.
- 04
Seismic performance
Individually restrained slabs behave far better than bedded stone under seismic movement — the failure mode is local, not progressive.
Specification
Stone Dry Façade
Indicative ranges for the system type. Project values are confirmed against the brief, the applicable code and the tested assembly.
Ask about this system| Parameter | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Stone types | Granite, travertine, limestone, marble to EN 1469 |
| Slab format range | 600 × 600 to 1,200 × 2,400 mm |
| Slab thickness | 30 – 40 mm, set by tested flexural strength |
| Weight | 75 – 110 kg/m² |
| Flexural strength | 6 – 20 MPa, tested to EN 12372 |
| Anchor type | Kerf, undercut or pin, stainless 1.4401 |
| Substructure | Aluminium or stainless bracket and rail |
| Cavity depth | 40 – 80 mm, open at base and head |
| Insulation | Mineral wool A1, 50 – 150 mm, mechanically fixed |
| Design wind load | Project-specific — to EN 1991-1-4 or ASCE 7 |
Indicative ranges for the system type, referenced to the governing standards. Project values are confirmed by CORTEX against the brief, the applicable code and the tested assembly.
Reference
Reference gallery
Examples of stone dry façade as a form, reproduced from the CORTEX Façade Systems catalogue to show the range the system covers. These are reference images of the system type, not CORTEX projects — our delivered work is under Projects.