Pilasters don’t get talked about as much as columns or cornices, but they show up on more buildings than most people realize. Any time you see a flat, column-like projection rising from a wall surface — framing a doorway, punctuating a facade at regular intervals, or adding vertical structure to an otherwise flat exterior — that’s a pilaster. They’re one of the oldest decorative and compositional elements in architecture, and they remain one of the most practical.
The question most architects and contractors face isn’t whether to use pilasters. It’s what to make them out of, and for exterior applications in particular, that decision has more consequences than it might appear.
What Pilasters Actually Do for a Building
Pilasters serve both a visual and a compositional function. Visually, they break up flat wall surfaces, add depth and shadow lines, and create a sense of rhythm across a facade. Compositionally, they define entrances, support the visual weight of cornices and entablatures above them, and give a building the kind of structured elegance that’s difficult to achieve with surface treatments alone.
On commercial buildings — retail storefronts, office facades, institutional buildings — pilasters are frequently used to frame entry bays, separate tenant spaces visually, or articulate the corners of a structure. On residential projects, they appear on grand entries, garage surrounds, and as part of larger classical or traditional design systems that include columns, pediments, and crown mouldings.
In either context, pilasters need to hold up over time. Exterior architectural elements are exposed to everything the climate throws at them, and the material choice determines how much maintenance, repair, and eventual replacement a building owner can expect.
The Problem with Traditional Pilaster Materials
Wood has historically been one of the most common materials for pilasters on residential construction, and its shortcomings are well documented by anyone who has had to maintain or replace them. Exterior wood pilasters are vulnerable to moisture infiltration at every joint, fastener, and end grain. They split, swell, rot, and paint failure follows closely behind. In coastal environments or climates with significant freeze-thaw cycling, the deterioration timeline accelerates considerably.
Beyond maintenance, wood pilasters are mechanically fastened through the building envelope — which means they create penetrations in the waterproofing membrane every time they’re attached. Each fastener is a potential leak point, and any settling, seismic movement, or thermal expansion can widen those gaps over time. Contractor callbacks related to water intrusion around mechanically fastened exterior trim are far more common than they should be.
Precast concrete pilasters solve the rot problem but introduce a different set of challenges. Precast is heavy — significantly heavier than any other commonly used pilaster material — which creates structural and logistical complications. Lead times for custom precast profiles can run weeks or months, and shipping costs for heavy precast elements are substantial. Cracking from thermal movement and seismic activity is a known risk, and once precast cracks, repair options are limited.
GFRC — glass fiber reinforced concrete — is lighter than precast and more dimensionally consistent, but it carries many of the same cost and lead time issues. Custom GFRC profiles require molds, and the manufacturing process is time-intensive. For projects that need multiple identical pilasters across a long facade, GFRC can be cost-effective at scale. For smaller projects or designs that require custom profiles, the economics rarely work in its favor.
Why Cement Coated EPS Pilasters Work Better
Architectural EPS pilasters from Patterson Whittaker address the core problems with all three of these materials simultaneously.
The weight difference alone changes the logistics of a project. EPS pilasters are a fraction of the weight of precast or GFRC equivalents, which means they can be handled and installed by a single person in most cases, don’t require cranes or specialized lifting equipment, and can be shipped cost-effectively even on large orders. For multi-unit residential or commercial projects where dozens of identical pilasters are needed, the shipping and handling savings relative to precast are significant.
Because PW pilasters are surface-applied rather than mechanically fastened through the building membrane, they eliminate the waterproofing liability that wood and heavy masonry products create. The attachment system doesn’t penetrate the envelope, which means there are no fastener points to seal, maintain, or worry about during seismic events or settling. This is one of the most underappreciated advantages of architectural EPS for exterior applications — it fundamentally changes the risk profile of the installation.
The cement coating applied to PW’s EPS products gives them a hard, durable exterior surface that accepts stucco finishes, paint, and specialty coatings in the same way that traditional masonry materials do. From a finished appearance standpoint, a properly coated and painted EPS pilaster is visually indistinguishable from precast or stone. Architects and designers don’t have to compromise on aesthetics to capture the practical benefits.
Custom Profiles and Lead Times
One of the persistent frustrations with precast and GFRC on projects that require custom profiles is lead time. Standard profiles ship quickly enough, but anything that deviates from catalog dimensions — a wider base, a specific capital detail, an unusual height — goes into a custom production queue that can hold up an entire project schedule.
PW Profiles offers custom sizing across its EPS pilaster line, and because EPS is machined rather than cast, custom dimensions don’t carry the same production penalty that precast and GFRC do. For architects working on projects with specific design requirements that don’t map neatly to standard catalog dimensions, that flexibility has real value.
It also means that matching existing architectural details on a renovation or restoration project is significantly more achievable. Replicating a pilaster profile from a historic building in precast requires extensive mold work. In EPS, it’s a machining adjustment.
Where EPS Pilasters Are Being Specified
Architectural EPS pilasters are a strong fit for a wide range of project types. They appear regularly in traditional and classical residential design, where the pilaster is part of a coordinated facade system that includes EPS columns, cornices, and quoins. They’re equally at home on commercial storefronts, institutional buildings, and multi-unit residential developments where a consistent, repeatable facade element is needed across multiple bays or units.
Renovation and restoration projects represent another strong application. When existing pilasters on an older building need to be replaced — whether because of rot, impact damage, or deterioration — EPS provides a replacement option that installs faster, costs less, and performs better over time than replacing like with like.
The combination of EPS mouldings with pilasters, columns, and other facade elements is where the system really shows its strength. When every element is coming from the same material family, the finishing process is consistent, the installation logic is the same across the whole facade, and the contractor isn’t coordinating between multiple trades and suppliers to get the exterior detailed correctly.
Getting Started with PW Pilasters
Patterson Whittaker supplies architectural EPS pilasters and the full range of complementary facade products to architects, contractors, and developers across North America. Standard catalog profiles are available for straightforward applications, and custom sizing is available for projects with specific design requirements.
Reach out through the contact page or call the US line at 1 (206) 953-5209 to discuss your project and request samples or pricing.
