The Design and Fabrication of Variable Façade Panel Systems Tanner Theisen 1 , Niloufar Emami 2 1 Louisiana State University, United States of America ttheis1@lsu.edu 2 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States of America nemami@illinois.edu Abstract. This study explores how alternative molding methods can be utilized to construct a variety of prefabricated volumetric concrete panels for façades from a single digitally fabricated mold. First, precedents were studied and panel variability was classified into ornamental, geometric, or assembly categories. Then, a molding method was proposed that improves upon traditional processes. Traditionally, geometrically varied façade panels are realized through creating a single mold for every variant, which is inefficient and wasteful. The proposed method allows for reusability of a singular mold which can fabricate variated panels through utilizing interchangeable mold inserts. This proposal was tested on a small scale through creating rapid iterations of molds fabricated with Stereolithography (SLA) printing. Emerging big area additive manufacturing (BAAM) technology allows for the proposed methods to be utilized at the industrial scale where they can reduce the cost, labor, and time of fabricating varied concrete panels while also creating complex geometries. Keywords: Variability, Precast Panels, 3D Printing Mold, Custom Repetitive Manufacturing, Facades. 1 Introduction 1.1 Limitations of Precast and the Case for Additive Manufacturing Concrete precast building systems have become widely popular since the early 20th century (Sutherland, 2001). Adopting concrete prefabrication methods as an alternative to in situ casting has many benefits, one being increased productivity in construction (Nahmens et al. 2011). This increase in productivity typically only largely applies to the fabrication of standardized objects through restricting the variety of possible panel designs in order to simplify production. In addition, precasting is labor intensive. Oftentimes, formwork elements 1257 SIGraDi 2021 | Designing Possibilities | Ubiquitous Conference