Midland Met Hospital ditches timber cladding after it fails safety tests 1/4 Source: Plans to use timber cladding on part of the Edward Williams Architects-designed Midland Metropolitan University Hospital build have been altered because of fire-safety concerns Minutes from a special meeting of the Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust held late last year, but only released this month, show that fire tests have led to a change of plan for the cladding system. Advertisement According to the AJ’s sister title Construction News, the report states that a proposed larch product on the top four floors of the hospital, as well as another Thermowood cladding already used on internal wards, will both be replaced by a terracotta product instead.