Dricon treated timber from Bates Timber is helping to fire protect the Corby Cube, a dramatic glass and concrete building housing Corby’s theatre, library, registry office and Council Chamber, as well as a one-stop-shop for council services.

On behalf of Bates Timber, Arch Timber Protection supplied 320sq metres of birch plywood treated with their Dricon fire retardant to be used as both visible and concealed interior wall cladding in the iconic building.

“Arch provided us with a full service from source to delivery, exactly to the specification of the architect,” said Peter Bates, director, Bates Timber Merchants.

“These plywood panels are not all visible once the building is complete, but they give a proven fire retardant protection in the background structure of the building,” says Jacqui Hughes, Arch Timber Protection’s fire retardant sales manager. “Dricon is the only BBA-certificated fire retardant treatment for timber and provides the perfect proven fire protection for interior applications such as this.”

Construction of the Corby Cube involved more than 2050 panes of glass and 15,500 tonnes of concrete. The building was the runner-up to the Beijing Olympic Swimming Pool in the LEAF Awards for the Best Public Building Design of the Year, and is the only theatre in the UK to have a BREEAM rating of excellent. The building will provide performance and meeting space for local people, as well as access to local government services.