Goss Coatings were delighted to have been invited to undertake specialist painting services for King’s College London, a long standing and valued client. This complex project required our team to approach the work with a focus on delivering an exceptionally high level of paint finish whilst maintaining stringent health and safety procedures in an eight floor stairwell.
Painting an iconic building
King’s College London was founded in 1829 and has grown to become one of the most renowned and prestigious Universities and Research Centres in the world.
Originally known as Cornwall House, the Franklin-Wilkins Building, forms part of the Waterloo Campus and was built between 1912 and 1915. The structure is a reinforced-concrete and was the headquarters building for Her Majesty’s Stationary Office.
The building is now home to London Dental Education Centre (LonDEC), which is part of the Dental Institute (also at Guy’s and Denmark Hill) as well as study areas, the Franklin-Wilkins Library and a restaurant and cafe.
Specialist painting services
The project required our team to paint walls and ceilings, including masking, preparation, application, completion, de-masking and final handover. Skirting boards were also freshened up at the same time. The areas the project covered included the lift lobbies and stairwells at Waterloo Bridge wing. This area is the connecting zone at the Franklin-Wilkins Building.
The works were spread over eight different levels and had to be carried out over several weekends in order to minimise disruption to our client. We regularly liaised with the excellent Bougyues building facilities team to ensure that the painting work was carried out during times of least footfall and pedestrian activity.
Stairwells are always tricky working environments. They require specialist contractors to safely manage the areas and execute works efficiently and professionally. A full risk assessment was undertaken for the erection of stair towers and a method statement submitted, prior to the work commencing. Experience in carrying out these risk assessments is an essential stage for this type of project.
Colour matching paints
We had to ensure the paints we used were of the highest quality and perfectly matched to the existing colour scheme. The two paint colours chosen were a white for the bulk of the surfaces and a striking ‘Kings Pink’ to match incumbent lift lobbies.
In order to ensure that the perfect colour match was made, we took a sample of the existing feature wall surface and had this digitally ‘matched’ by our colleagues at DULUX, AKZO NOBEL. The paints were then mixed and delivered to us without affecting the project’s timeline. Two coats of Vinyl Matt of the pink and white were applied to all lobby feature wall surfaces. It is this attention to detail that was an important factor in achieving the high quality finish our client expects.
Following the completion of the works and our final handover, both the client and the contractor were delighted with the result, and we have received the following feedback:
“Could you pass on my thanks to the team for the work that was carried out, very happy with all the work and communications I have had with you guys at Goss Coatings. I look forward to continuing our work together.”
Although Goss are more widely known for our ongoing hygienic coatings, hygienic cladding and wall protection work, we continue to offer fast track painting services for our clients and customers. We are pleased to say that we have been providing these high quality painting services to our clients for over 34 years. We continue to work extensively and continually with the highest quality specialist manufacturers of premium quality specialist construction products such as Akzo Nobel; Sika, Construction Specialities, Altro and Trovex.
