Key Decision
Set facade panel sizes from the elevation controls outward, then prove each module against the selected product, fixing system, usable slab area, fabrication route, completed-panel handling and replacement access. Do not begin by drawing the largest rectangles the source slab can supply.
There is no single standard joint width for every sintered stone facade. Build a project joint schedule that separates inter-panel joints, opening perimeters, building movement joints and terminations; assign each width only after the product, substructure, movement, weathering and tolerance inputs are confirmed.
For a mechanically fixed route, review the mechanically fixed facade system planning before freezing modules and junction details.
Freeze the Elevation Controls Before Choosing a Module
The architectural elevation is the visual starting point, not yet a cutting drawing. Mark the current drawing revision and establish the governing lines: structural grids, floor levels, finished cladding limits, parapets, slab edges, window and door references, movement joints, material transitions and the boundaries of each facade zone. Keep unverified dimensions as explicit holds.
This step prevents cumulative drift. A joint grid set from one provisional edge can look regular on screen while gradually moving away from window jambs, corner supports or rail positions. Porcelanosa's open-joint porcelain cladding technical book shows the useful coordination pattern: labeled panel elevations are developed beside substructure layouts and opening details. Its dimensions belong to that system, but the drawing relationship is reusable.
Create a control overlay before drawing panel marks. Use one layer for verified building datums, one for openings and transitions, one for the proposed panel grid, and one for holds. A panel must never become “approved” only because all four sides have dimensions.
Treat Every Opening as a Four-Edge Coordination Zone
A window or door is not one rectangular subtraction. Its head, sill and two jambs can have different frame references, return depths, flashings, drainage paths, closure profiles, sealant or open-joint conditions and support requirements. Resolve those four edges in elevation, plan and section before approving the panels around them.
Use the following sequence:
- Verify the structural opening, installed frame and visible frame dimensions.
- Decide which joints align with jambs, centers, sill lines or a wider architectural bay.
- Calculate the remaining head, sill and side pieces instead of accepting whatever strips remain.
- Check every remaining piece against the selected system's fixing zones, edge conditions, fabrication method and installation access.
- Place a hold on any opening whose site dimension or frame position is not yet verified.
A narrow piece is accepted because the chosen product and system can fabricate, support, handle and install it—not because it exceeds a copied minimum width.
Resolve Corners and Returns Before Repeating the Field Grid
Each outside or inside corner fixes where one elevation ends and the next begins. Decide whether the face uses separate returns, an expressed open joint, an approved mitre, a mechanically assembled corner, a metal profile or another tested detail. That choice changes four records at once: visible face size, production blank, handedness and the first joint on the adjacent elevation.
Mark left- and right-hand parts separately unless the approved detail proves they are interchangeable. A return with the same face dimensions can still differ in texture direction, back-frame position, groove or anchor pattern. The same review applies to parapets, soffits, bases, recessed bands and transitions to glass, metal or another cladding material.
Current manufacturer documentation illustrates why the system matters. Neolith's HU system links panel joints and horizontal-profile positions to the installation plan, facade design, support and location. ISO's published scope for ISO/TS 17870-3:2023 likewise treats mechanically fixed large-format panels as an assembly whose fixing method and project design loads must be evaluated together.
Separate Joint Types Before You Enter Any Width
Use a joint code, not one global “gap” note. At minimum, distinguish panel-to-panel joints, frame perimeters, building movement joints, floor-by-floor movement or deflection zones, material transitions, corner joints and top/bottom terminations. They do different work and may have different widths, profiles, sealants or open-joint conditions.
A practical closure check is:
Design joint width ≥ expected relative closure + accepted fabrication/subframe/installation tolerance allowance + the required remaining functional gap.
The facade designer defines how those movements and tolerances are combined. The product/system supplier provides the tested joint, edge and fixing limits. The architect coordinates visible rhythm and building joints. The installer confirms achievable setting-out and survey tolerances.
Cosentino's Dekton facade technical manual and Neolith's HU documentation publish different branded recommendations. That difference is useful evidence against a universal number: use the selected system's data and the project's movement and tolerance review to complete the schedule.
| Joint code | Illustrative project value | Function | Release evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| J1 | 8 mm | Open inter-panel joint in the repeated field | Selected panel system, edge condition, relative movement, drainage and tolerance review |
| J2 | 12 mm | Window and door perimeter interface | Frame movement, perimeter seal/profile, sill and jamb details |
| J3 | 25 mm | Existing structural movement joint continued through the cladding | Building movement-joint detail and facade-engineer approval |
| J4 | 16 mm | Top and bottom termination in the worked elevation zone | Closure profile, ventilation/drainage and edge-access detail |
These four values belong only to the illustrative exercise below. Their purpose is to show how several approved project joints enter one elevation—not to create a Funtek standard.
Worked Example: Panelize a 12.08 m × 6.372 m South Elevation
This exercise is hypothetical. Replace every input with approved project data before quotation or fabrication.
1. Lock the exercise inputs
- Cladding control zone: 12,080 mm wide × 6,372 mm high between finished returns.
- Usable cutting rectangle confirmed for the exercise: 1,570 mm × 3,170 mm after trimming.
- Cutting kerf used for nesting arithmetic: 5 mm.
- Four windows: each 1,800 mm × 1,050 mm and centered on alternate 3,000 mm facade bays.
- One entrance: 1,500 mm × 2,100 mm aligned to one vertical module and two horizontal modules.
- Directional surface: 90° rotation prohibited; all street-elevation panels retain one top direction.
- Completed-module mass supplied for handling planning: 22 kg/m², including the exercise's selected permanent backing and hardware.
- J1 inter-panel joint: 8 mm; side perimeter: 12 mm; top/bottom termination: 16 mm.
The width closes exactly as 8 × 1,500 + 7 × 8 + 2 × 12 = 12,080 mm. The height closes as 6 × 1,050 + 5 × 8 + 2 × 16 = 6,372 mm. This arithmetic is a starting grid, not the release: openings, corners, supports and handling still have to pass.
2. Compare modules on the usable slab—not the nominal slab
| Module option | Fit within 1,570 × 3,170 mm | Repeat-panel geometric use | Completed module mass | Project reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A: 1,500 × 1,050 mm | 3 along length: 3,150 + two 5 mm kerfs = 3,160 mm | 94.9% | 34.7 kg | Matches the opening height and six-row elevation rhythm; selected for detailed testing |
| B: 1,500 × 1,500 mm | 2 along length: 3,000 + one 5 mm kerf = 3,005 mm | 90.4% | 49.5 kg | Fewer horizontal joints, but it breaks the opening/level rhythm and increases the lifted module |
| C: 1,200 × 1,050 mm | 3 along length; a 370 mm side strip remains before kerf allowances | 75.9% | 27.7 kg | Lighter, but adds vertical joints; the side strip counts only if an approved return really uses it |
Option A's repeat-panel calculation is (3 × 1.500 × 1.050) ÷ (1.570 × 3.170) = 94.9%. The result is geometric use for that repeated blank. It does not yet include defects, face selection, edge work, holes, grooves, special pieces or spares.
3. Resolve the windows, entrance and returns
Each 1,800 mm-wide window is centered on a 3,000 mm bay. The center vertical joint continues through the opening; the two 1,500 mm field panels in the window row become two 600 × 1,050 mm side panels. This avoids L-shaped pieces and keeps the opening center aligned with the facade rhythm. The entrance removes one full column across two rows. Four 320 × 1,050 mm handed return panels complete the two external corners in this exercise.
The resulting fabrication schedule contains 38 full field panels, eight window-side panels and four corner returns: 50 installed pieces. One additional full field panel is included as the agreed spare. The special-piece nest places two 600 mm window panels plus one 320 mm return across the slab width where edge and kerf controls permit.
4. Recalculate project yield with approved blanks
Thirteen usable slabs provide 39 full panels at three per slab. Two further slabs carry the eight window-side panels, four returns and the required special-piece allowances. The produced blank area is:
(39 × 1.500 × 1.050) + (8 × 0.600 × 1.050) + (4 × 0.320 × 1.050) = 67.809 m².
Against 15 usable rectangles, the exercise yield is 67.809 ÷ (15 × 1.570 × 3.170) = 90.8%. This is more useful than dividing net facade area by nominal slab area because it includes the approved panel blanks and one actual spare. A production nest still has to place every part, kerf, orientation arrow, edge allowance and defect hold.
Lock Texture Direction Before Optimizing the Cut
A nesting program can rotate rectangles freely; the approved facade face map may not. Record a top arrow on every source slab and finished panel. Define whether 180° rotation is allowed, prohibit 90° rotation where it changes the design, and reserve face relationships for focal entrances, corners or continuous veins before cut optimization begins.
Then run two passes. The elevation pass asks whether the grid resolves openings, joints, corners and repeated types. The production pass asks how those approved blanks fit inside the confirmed usable rectangles. Reject a higher-yield nest if it rotates the texture, breaks a face sequence, creates an unapproved fragile geometry or removes the planned spare.
Set a Handling Envelope for the Completed Module
The largest manufacturable panel may not be the largest controllable panel. Review the completed component through cutting, backing or frame assembly, inspection, protected packing, loading, unloading, hoisting, scaffold or mast-climber access, turning space and final fixing position. When early feasibility depends on a low-mass facing, the Ultra-Light facade guide explains how to separate bare-facing, finished-panel and complete-system weight before the module is released.
For the exercise, the selected 1,500 × 1,050 mm module has a completed mass of 1.500 × 1.050 × 22 = 34.7 kg. The handling plan does not convert that number into a manual-lift instruction. It selects rated mechanical lifting equipment for the complete module and verifies the protected transport envelope, attachment points, center of gravity, wind controls and site exclusion requirements.
The team records a protected envelope of 1,560 × 1,110 mm, checks it against the 1,800 × 2,400 mm hoist opening and measures the turn zone at the receiving floor. Replacement access is tested separately: a module that can enter before adjacent work closes may still be impossible to remove later.
Give Every Panel One Identity From Elevation to Crate
A useful panel mark links installed position, drawing revision, finished geometry, production blank, face direction, fixing variant, QC record and crate. Use a readable syntax rather than an isolated serial number. In the exercise, S02-L03-B04-P02-R1 ↑ means south elevation 02, level 03, bay 04, panel 02, revision 1, with the approved top direction.
If geometry, handedness, face assignment, hole/groove pattern or backing configuration changes, revise the mark or revision visibly. Drawings, labels, inspection photographs, packing lists and site maps must all use the same identifier. A crate code should add handling sequence without replacing the panel's own identity.
Release One Coordinated Panelization Package
Do not release a cut list by itself. The approval package should contain:
- the current elevation overlay with verified datums, holds and panel marks;
- plans and sections for corners, openings, bases, parapets, soffits and material transitions;
- a joint schedule separating J1, J2, J3 and every other functional joint;
- the selected product, thickness, finish, usable cutting rectangle and face-direction rules;
- the facade-system drawing that confirms support, fixing zones and movement strategy;
- the panel schedule with finished sizes, blanks, handedness, face IDs and revisions;
- the cutting nest, produced-spare list, remnant register and actual utilization calculation;
- completed-module mass, lifting points, protected envelope and route review;
- QC, packing and crate maps tied to the elevation installation sequence.
The deeper facade installation article owns the fixing load path and field installation sequence. The slab-size guide owns general nominal-versus-usable format selection. This page stops when the coordinated elevation and panel package are ready for system review, quotation and fabrication release.
Prepare the Elevation for Supplier and System Review
Send the current elevation and sections, opening schedule, selected surface and thickness, proposed fixing direction, project location, quantity, destination, lifting constraints and required delivery sequence. Funtek's sintered stone outdoor facade panel page explains the available project-supply path for panels, cutting, drilling, backing or frame preparation, numbering, export packing and delivery coordination.
A useful first review does not ask for “the biggest possible panel.” It asks for two or three module options with the same opening and corner rules, then compares visual rhythm, system support, usable-slab yield, completed-panel handling, replacement access and landed package consequences on equal scope.
Send the Elevation and Module Options
Share the current drawings, selected surface, proposed system direction and site handling constraints. We can review the panel schedule, fabrication scope, numbering and packing information needed for a project quotation.