Forge Mill Farm

Forge Mill Farm

Forge Mill Farm is a Government-run visitor centre in West Bromwich open for families, schools and colleges to learn more about animals, food and the environment. This brand new farm building is the new indoor play area for the visitor centre as well as having a cafe and classroom space for educational use. The exterior of the building is clad with Thermowood, a modified redwood product. The cladding has been supplied by Vincent Timber, a leading cladding supplier in the UK.

As part of the project, Vincent Timber supplied 18 cubic metres of the Thermowood cladding to their customer which has been treated with FireWright® natural
fire-retardant timber treatment. FireWright were supplied the timber in loads throughout the course of weeks and were able to treat and kiln dry the Thermowood to specified moisture levels ready for installation.

FireWright® were contacted by Vincent Timber to treat 6,786 linear metres of Thermowood for this Forge Mill Farm project. As per the specification, the design of the building benefits from a stunning natural appearance, with cladding to all elevations of the building and, after utilising FireWright’s treatment, the building’s cladding now meets Euroclass B s1, d0. 

Thermowood cladding offers several benefits for building exteriors. The modification process improves the cladding’s stability while reducing the risk of warping, cracking, or shrinking. This gives a longer lasting material life for the cladding. The thermal aspect of the modification process gives the appearance of a slightly darker colour enhancing its look while turning a natural grey colour after a prolonged period of time. 

Our FireWright® treatment is a natural, clear liquid solution made from a patented powder. The transparency of the treatment allows the natural beauty of the timber to remain prevalent whilst ensuring the timber remains fire retardant.

The stunning new project now meets Euroclass B s1, d0. The cladding was treated and returned to Vincent Timber complete with a Declaration of Performance, Constancy of Performance and a Fire Classification Report. The issuance of this documentation provides traceability and full documentation of the treatment along with verification that our treatment has been independently audited and tested by third party notified bodies. The treatment does not have to be re-applied to the cladding and will last the duration of the healthy timber’s life.