Silvertop Ash timber supplied by Radial Timber has been used as cladding on the Marysville Police Station.
Having being destroyed in the 2009 bushfires, the station needed to be rebuilt, with the Marysville community wanting the new station to recall the ‘old’ Marysville.
Breaking from the traditional brick palette used in police buildings, of which the Victoria Police accepted, timber was used as the main component in the design and building, aligning with the character of the community.
Battens on the building are made from silvertop ash as Radial Timber advised it was the only timber suitable for the batten type required by the design.
Silvertop Ash is an ideal cladding material, which can be supplied as radially sawn board and batten cladding. It is a unique alternative to traditional horizontal cladding. The vertical cladding is unseasoned and fine sawn.
It is a distinctive timber with many features, including noticeable growth rings, gum veins and pencil streaks, making it great for visual applications.
Additionally, the silvertop ash is inherently resistant to fire and is one of seven hardwood species that has been found suitable by the Building Commission in Victoria for construction in bushfire areas.
This species is approved for use in ‘high fire danger’ areas according to Practice Note No. 46 (Dec 2001). It is also classed as one of the bushfire-resisting timber species in the 2009 Building Regulations and AS3949.
A light brown in colour, silvertop ash is fire resistant to BAL29. Its hardness rating is two on a six class scale and the Burning Splinter Test results in a match-size splinter burning to charcoal with no ash. It is believed this is due to a number of factors such as density and wood structure.
The use of timber in the building softens the building’s presence, making it less intrusive and part of the overall landscape.
