Rainscreens and Cladding
Modern walls wear raincoats.
Learn how the layers work.
See how contemporary cladding really keeps weather out — the gap, the barrier and the skin — and detail exteriors that stay handsome for decades.
Cladding calls will stop keeping you up at night.
- Grasp the principle — understand why a ventilated gap outsmarts driving rain
- Choose cladding confidently — weigh timber, metal, terracotta and composite options properly
- Fix it properly — understand supports and brackets that hold everything in place
- Mind the openings — detail windows and penetrations without breaking the system
- Think fire first — understand why cladding choices now carry the most serious responsibility
- Plan graceful ageing — select finishes that weather beautifully instead of embarrassingly
Built by one of the most-read architecture platforms in the world.
RTF | Rethinking The Future has spent over a decade publishing the ideas, projects and voices shaping architecture — and now brings that depth to learning. Every course is researched, written and produced by the RTF team.
Weather never rests. Neither should details.
A clear path. Five steps.
Everything unlocks instantly with membership · learn at your own pace
If you see yourself here, start today.
A few hours from now, you could already see differently.
I drew rainscreen details without knowing why the cavity existed. Learning pressure equalisation and drained-and-ventilated logic made the principle click permanently. Cladding details now make sense to me as physics, not as convention.
Simple by design.
Watch
Short, focused video lessons — each one a single idea, clearly explained.
Apply
End every lesson with a small task that pushes your real project forward.
Transform
Watch your work develop a point of view that is unmistakably yours.
Answered simply.
What exactly is a rainscreen and why does everyone specify them?
You'll learn the drained-and-ventilated principle that makes them work, and why it's become the default answer for modern cladding.
Does this cover fire safety of cladding systems?
Yes — combustibility and cavity behaviour are treated as first-order design questions, because the industry learned that lesson the hard way.
Do I need any prior experience?
No. Every course starts from where you are and builds up step by step, in plain language.
Is this software training?
No — software changes yearly. The thinking you learn here lasts a career.
How does it work?
Short video lessons with a small practice task after each. Any device, your pace.
What does membership include?
One membership unlocks every course on RTF Academy — all 450+, nothing sold separately. And you stay in control: cancel anytime in one click, and you will never be charged again.
Ready to see your work change?
Your next project could be the one that feels truly yours.
- 5 Sections
- 25 Lessons
- 4 Hours
- 1. What It Does and How It Fails5
- 2. The Options Compared5
- 3. The Detail5
- 4. Performance5
- 5. Specifying and Building It5
Reviews
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I drew rainscreen details without knowing why the cavity existed. Learning pressure equalisation and drained-and-ventilated logic made the principle click permanently. Cladding details now make sense to me as physics, not as convention.
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