BUSHFIRE RESISTANT BUILDING TO OPEN IN NARBETHONG

Less than two years after being burnt to the ground on Black Saturday 7 February 2009, the new Narbethong Community Hall is receiving its finishing touches in preparation for the official opening by the Governor of Victoria, The Hon. Alex Chernov AO, QC on Saturday 26 November.

The opening is occurring just as the 2011 bushfire season announcements are being made, only last Sunday, Deputy Premier and Minister for Bushfire Response, Mr Peter Ryan launched ‘Fire Action Week’.

He maintained that research through fire prone areas has revealed that ‘something like 75 per cent of people don’t believe they need a bushfire plan.’

The Narbethong Community sought the help and advice of leading professionals in rebuilding their community hall as part of their plan for managing their building in future bushfires.

According to Ms Ninotschka Titchkosky, Prinicipal of BVN, architects of the new hall, ‘one of the greatest challenges was designing a timber hall in an area that has a very high rating of bushfire protection.’

‘In order to meet the bush fire requirements, the outside of the building is made up of floor to ceiling double glazing that is  wrapped in a bronze mesh fire resistant screen,’ said Ms Titchkosky.

Internally the primary material is local timber, the timber floor, ceiling and curved screen are all expressions of Narbethong’s history and the 4.2m high verticals of the timber screen are reminiscent of the beautiful trees found in the region and the Black Spur Forest.

And in a sign of confidence in the new building a working bee spent last weekend planting nearly 3,000 tree, shrubs and grasses – many of which were donated - to complete the landscaping in time for the opening.

The new hall is the result of a pro-bono collaboration with Emergency Architects and other consultants including, BSGM, Rodney Vapp & Associates, Contour Planning, Rodney Aujard & Associates, Douglas Partners Pty Ltd, Fitzgerald Frisbee Landscape Architecture, Gollings Photography who then worked in conjunction with Edwards Moore, Hedger Constructions, The Victorian Bushfire Recovery and Reconstruction Authority, DSE, Murrindindi Shire and the Narbethong Public Hall Committee to design and implement the rebuilding of the Hall, which was made possible with McDonald’s major sponsorship of $520,000.

EDITORS NOTE: PHOTOS OF THE BURNT AND NEARLY COMPLETED NEW HALL ARE AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

CONTACT
STELLA DE VULDER 02 8297 7200 OR 0412 341 013
NINOTSCHKA TITCHKOSKY 03 9639 9199 OR 0410 405 449