Cladding

Cladding is placing one type of thing on top of another in a layer to make something like a skin. This can protect whatever is underneath the cladding from the weather, or it may make it look beautiful.Fleming, et al., The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture, p.76 (1980)

For example, Rainscreen cladding is one form of weather cladding. It protects things from rainwater and keeps it from getting too hot or cold. The cladding does not need to be waterproof.  Some cladding only makes the rainwater or wind flow another way to control run-off. For example, rainscreen cladding can make water on a rooftop flow away from some parts of the building so the water does not come inside. Cladding may also stop noise. Cladding applied to windows is often referred to as window capping and is a specialized field.

References

Category:Architectural elements